Tomorrow Fox airs the season finale of Fringe, created by the Star Trek team of JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. They have released a movie-style preview of the finale, which features Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy. Watch that below along with a behind the scenes chat with Nimoy and Fringe’s John Noble.

Watch: Fringe finale preview + Noble and Nimoy chat

As we reported over the weekend, Leonard Nimoy made a surprise guest appearance on Fringe last Friday. he is also coming back tomorrow for the season four finale. Here is a new movie trailer style preview for "Brave New World":

And here is a video with Nimoy and John Noble talking about working together again.

And in his interview with StarTrek.com, Nimoy says that it is an "open question" on if he will return for the fifth and final season. So he might just come out of retirement one more time.

Last night was Fox aired the first part of the two-part finale for the fourth season of of their sci-fi show Fringe. The show included a number of guest stars, including a surprise appearance by a Star Trek veteran. We wont say who on the front page to avoid spoilers, but you can watch a clip of this Trek star below.

Leonard Nimoy Returns To Fringe

Once again Leonard Nimoy has come out of acting retirement, this time to return to the character of William Bell on Fringe, a show created by Star Trek team of Bob Orci, Alex Kurtzman and JJ Abrams. Nimoy had a couple of scenes in the episode, watch one of them here.

While Nimoy’s appearance was a surprise, there was a hint he may be returning a couple of weeks ago in the episode "Letters in Transit," which jumped forward to the year 2036 and it showed Bell in suspended animation, encased in “Amber 31422,” although this “appearance” was likely done with CGI.

William Bell encased in amber in a future timeline of "Fringe"

Last night’s episode "Brave New World (Part 1)" is just half of the two-part season four finale, and it appears likely that Nimoy will be back next week for part 2.

By the way Fringe fans, the show has recently been renewed for one more final season with 13 episodes.

TrekMovie has put together some fun Star Trek celeb stuff from Saturday at San Diego Comic Con including photos of Patrick Stewart and video of the crowd singing him happy birthday. Plus Bob Orci reveals the truth about a government conspiracy, and finally video of Zachary Quinto and Damon Lindelof "audition" for Fringe.

SDCC Crowd sings happy birthday to Patrick Stewart

On Saturday Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Sir Patrick Stewart attended his first San Diego Comic Con to attend the panel for Dorothy of Oz in which he voices the character of Tuck. During the pnael, Dorothy of Oz co-star Megan Hilty spontaneously decided to lead the crowd in singing happy birthday to Sir Patrick who turned 71 on July 13th.

Anyone who follows Star Trek co-writer/producer Bob Orci on Twitter or even with his comments here at TrekMovie knows that he is a skeptic when it comes to official stories from the government. Here is an excerpt from an article at The Wrap from Saturdays SDCC Cowboys & Aliens premiere.

“I think the evidence clearly indicates that the government’s lying about what the hell’s going on.”

The truth is out there Bob!

Bob Orci doesn’t trust the government about aliens but is all smiles with Oliva Wilde at premiere of "Cowboys & Aliens" at San Diego Comic Con – July 23, 2011

Zachary Quinto, Damon Lindelof and others audition for Fringe’s Peter

Finally, at the Fringe panel on Saturday Warner Brothers and Fox decided to reveal the "Peter audition tapes" for featuring actors who auditioned for the role of Peter. The tapes turned out to be a gag which included Star Trek producer Damon Lindelof, the new Mr. Spock Zachary Quinto and others including Ben Schwartz, Rebecca Mader Geoff Stults, Paul Scheer, Michael Emerson and Danny Pudi.

Photos: WireImage

POLL: Are we not alone?

Well Bob Orci has weighed in on the notion of visits from Aliens, so what do you think?

[poll=669]

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2011/07/24/sdcc-crowd-sings-happy-birthday-to-patrick-stewart-bob-orci-reveals-truth-about-aliens-quinto-lindelofs-fringe-audition/feed/111Leonard Nimoy Talks Fringe and Star Trekhttps://trekmovie.com/2011/05/09/leonard-nimoy-talks-fringe-and-star-trek/
https://trekmovie.com/2011/05/09/leonard-nimoy-talks-fringe-and-star-trek/#commentsMon, 09 May 2011 18:52:12 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=20448Star Trek’s original Spock Leonard Nimoy is appearing tonight at Boston University. The school newspaper has a new interview with the actor promoting the event, where Nimoy talks about coming out of retirement for Fringe and Star Trek. Excerpts below.

Nimoy talks Fringe and Trek

Leonard Nimoy is back in his home town of Boston to talk at Boston University tonight. The university paper has an interview with the actor, here are excerpts:

You play the character of William Bell on Fox’s Fringe, which just got picked up for another season despite rumors it might be canceled. Were you concerned about that?
The writer and producers are extremely creative and very resourceful. They’re able to take these interesting ideas, and it’s fun to see where they’re going and be a part of it. I consider myself a retired actor. I do small parts on Fringe, but when I was acting full-time I was always concerned about shows being canceled.

Spock has become an iconic character. What was it like being part of Star Trek?
Star Trek is ancient history. When I was doing that show, we had no way of knowing how long it would be on the air, and we were always marginal in the ratings, always in danger of being canceled. I felt strongly that we were doing strong material; the ideas and themes of that show were relevant for so many people in their daily lives. I was so happy to be in that show because I think it had social relevance. I think finally that’s why the show endured. We were only on for three seasons but were very successful in reruns, and then there was a series of movies and other Star Trek shows that came along. It has had a very interesting and prosperous life.

Leonard Nimoy is appearing tonight (May 9,) as part of the Boston University Friends of the Libraries Speaker Series. He will be in George Sherman Union Metcalf Ballroom, 775 Commonwealth Ave. More info on tickets at www.bu.edu.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2011/05/09/leonard-nimoy-talks-fringe-and-star-trek/feed/17New Trailers For Terra Nova Pilot & Fringe Season Finale + Update On Star Trek Vet Pilotshttps://trekmovie.com/2011/05/03/new-trailers-for-terra-nova-pilot-fringe-season-finale-update-on-star-trek-vet-pilots/
https://trekmovie.com/2011/05/03/new-trailers-for-terra-nova-pilot-fringe-season-finale-update-on-star-trek-vet-pilots/#commentsWed, 04 May 2011 03:02:07 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=20281FOX has released new promos for sci-fi shows from Star Trek vets, with a series preview of next fall’s Terra Nova (produced by Brannon Braga) and this Friday’s season finale of Fringe (created by JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman). There is also an update on the genre pilots from the Star Trek vets.

New Trailer for Brannon Braga’s Terra Nova – premiering in the Fall

Star Trek TNG – Star Trek: Enterprise vet Brannon Braga is returning to TV and returning to time travel with as the executive producer and show-runner for Terra Nova, a new series also produced by Steven Spielberg. The show about a family traveling back to prehistoric times stars Jason O’Mara (Live on Mars) and Stephen Lang (Avatar) premières this fall, and FOX has released a new trailer.

New Fringe Season Finale Trailer

And FOX has also released a cool movie-style trailer for this Friday’s season finale of Fringe, the sci-fi series created by Star Trek’s JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman. [Spoiler alert] And Fringe is also getting into time-travel business (along with their multiple universes storyline).

New FOX sci-fi pilots from Star Trek team now looking less likely for pickup?

May is the month that all the networks announced their schedule for the next season. Fox has already renewed Fringe for a fourth season and so combined with Terra Nova, it could be that they may not need another genre show for their next season. The Star Trek "supreme court" have two sci-fi shows in contention at FOX with Locke and Key from Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and Alcatraz from Bryan Burk and JJ Abrams. Here is what Deadline Hollywood is reporting this week:

I hear Fox’s new crop of dramas may not include a sci-fi entry this year as both LOCKE & KEY and ALCATRAZ have cooled off, though the time travel-themed mystery Alcatraz still has loyal fans among the higher-ups. With the network recently renewing Fringe for a full season, it has secured the genre’s presence on the network for fall and has protected its good relationship with Fringe executive producer JJ Abrams, who also produces Alcatraz, in case the pilot doesn’t go.

The Trek team seem to be doing better with their non-scifi pilots. Deadline reports Orci and Kurtzman’s Paper Products’ Exit Strategy pilot has "emerged as a frontrunner" at FOX. Also, Abrams and Burk’s Bad Robot has Persons of Interest in contention at CBS, which is reported to be getting "mixed early buzz," noting that it "tested well but plays dark."

As for Ron Moore’s magic-themed procedural 17th Precinct, Deadline reports that it "doesn’t look good" for that pilot to get picked up at NBC, with the net leaning towards another magical show Grimm.

Last night if you watched American Idol on FOX you would have caught previews of a couple of things related to the world of Star Trek. First was the new trailer for Cowboys & Aliens, written by Star Trek writer/producers Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof. In addition there was another preview for tonight’s episode of Fringe that could explain the interesting way Leonard Nimoy will be appearing. Watch both below.

Cowboys & Aliens Trailer 2

Before they started work on the Star Trek sequel screenplay, Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman penned the screenplay for Cowboys & Aliens, a sci-fi western directed by Jon Favreau starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. Orci and Kurtzman are all also producers on the movie. Last night the second trailer premiered with on American Idol and at Apple.com. Check it out below.

Cowboys & Aliens is coming this summer.

Nimoy’s Fringe appearance revealed?

On American Idol FOX also aired a new preview for tonight’s episode of Fringe (created by JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman). The episode "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" features the return of Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy as William Bell, but has been teased to be an unusual return. Our friends at FringeTelevision point us to a tweet from producer Jeff Pinker noting how the preview (below) is "Verrrry revealing".

Fringe’s "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" airs Friday April 15th at 9PM.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2011/04/15/new-previews-for-orcikurtzmanlindelofs-cowboys-aliens-leonard-nimoy-on-fringe/feed/37Fox Promo Teases Leonard Nimoy’s Return To Fringe This Fridayhttps://trekmovie.com/2011/04/13/fox-promo-teases-leonard-nimoys-return-to-fringe-this-friday/
https://trekmovie.com/2011/04/13/fox-promo-teases-leonard-nimoys-return-to-fringe-this-friday/#commentsWed, 13 Apr 2011 23:08:13 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=19713Leonard Nimoy has come out of retirement one more time to reprise his role as William Bell on JJ Abrams sci-fi show Fringe. FOX has released a new promo for this Friday’s episode which teases the return of Nimoy. Watch it and another preview below.

Leonard Nimoy is back "in an unexpected way" on Fringe

Here is Fox’s "A Tease Within A Tease" about the Fringe episode "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide"

SPOILERS: On the current season of Fringe it has been established that William Bell (played by Leonard Nimoy) has died but has used a "soul magnet" to inhabit the mind of Oliva Dunham (Anna Torv). This has become a problem which will be dealt with this Friday in the episode "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide." Here is another new preview from FOX:

"Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" airs Friday April 15th.

Nimoy and LSD?

Could the episode title be an homage to a famous scene with Leonard Nimoy. Of course "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" is better known as the hallucinogen LSD, something which Fringe’s mad scientist Walter Bishop probably uses on a regular basis. But, Leonard Nimoy has had another brush with a reference to LSD. In Star Trek IV Admiral Kirk tried to explain away Spock’s odd behavior (from a 1980s perspective) by telling Dr. Gillian Taylor he had used "a little too much LDS" in the 60s.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2011/04/13/fox-promo-teases-leonard-nimoys-return-to-fringe-this-friday/feed/22FOX Renews Fringe With Full Season Order + Star Trek: DS9 Reference On Hawaii Five-0https://trekmovie.com/2011/03/24/fox-renews-fringe-with-full-season-order-star-trek-ds9-reference-on-hawaii-five-0/
https://trekmovie.com/2011/03/24/fox-renews-fringe-with-full-season-order-star-trek-ds9-reference-on-hawaii-five-0/#commentsFri, 25 Mar 2011 05:24:09 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=19218 Fringe, the FOX sci-fi show from Star Trek’s JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, has been renewed for a fourth season. Despite lower ratings and a move to Friday, Fox is still firmly behind the show, giving it a full season order. Plus Orci and Kurtzman’s other TV show had an extended Star Trek reference on it this week. All the details below

Fringe gets a fourth season + Nimoy talks finale

Thursday evening brought great news for fans of Fringe. Word of a fourth season renewal first came from producer Joel Wyman on Twitter. The news was confirmed by Entertainment Weekly, reporting that FOX had ordered a full season of 22 new episodes from JJ Abrams Bad Robot production company.

The 4th season news prompted a tweet from Damon Lindelof (the only Star Trek producer who is not involved in the show) congratulating his friends with: "In an alternate universe, FRINGE was just cancelled. In this one, however, SEASON FOUR, baby! #YAY" Later Roberto Orci sent out a thank you tweet to the fans, saying "Thank you, Fringe fans, for earning us a fourth season. You rock!"

Fringe fans have been getting nervous about the prospects of a fourth season ever since FOX moved the show to Friday (and sci-fi fans remember how that worked out for shows like Enterprise and Firefly). Last week the show (going up against NCAA basketball) hit a series low of just 1.3 in the 18-19 demo, but apparently that didn’t seem to phase FOX. One thing Fringe has going for it, is the show gets a big ratings bump when factoring in DVRs, jumping up to an average of 2.2 with adults 18-29.

Episode 18 ("Bloodline") of the third season of Fringe airs Friday night, which means there are just four more episodes to the season finale featuring Leonard Nimoy, reprising his role as William Bell. The finale, titled “The Way We Died”, airs May 6th. In an interview with the official Star Trek site, Nimoy says of his return:

I can’t say if William Bell will ever be back…I thought the character was finished, but they came up with a wonderful idea.

Nimoy in the Season 2 finale of "Fringe" – coming back for S3 finale

Here is a preview for Friday’s episode "Bloodline".

"Sisko" on H50

In other news related to Orci and Kurtzman’s TV empire, their CBS show Hawaii Five-0, had a Star Trek reference on this week’s episode “Na Me’e Laua Na”. The episode dealt with a murder of a sci-fi fan, sending McGarrett and Danno to sci-fi convention and an encounter with a "Commander Sisko" cosplayer. The episode was written by Roberto Orci’s brother J.R. Orci. You can watch the episode at CBS.com (Skip to the 10:00 minute mark to see "Commander Sisko"…and yes he was wearing a First Contact costume and had captains pips, and yes CBS.com only works in the USA).

Star Trek’s original Spock is coming back out of retirement one more time for JJ Abrams. Leonard Nimoy has confirmed that he will be returning to the Fox sci-fi show Fringe, reprising his role as William Bell.

Nimoy confirms return to Fringe

When Leonard Nimoy appeared as William Bell in last May’s season finale for Fringe (the sci-fi show created by the Star Trek team of JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) he had said it would be his last job as an actor. However, it appears he has a bit more work to do. This afternoon Nimoy confirmed (via Twitter) earlier reports that he would be returning to the show, saying "Coming to Fringe. William’s bell rings soon. LLAP".

Nimoy in Season 2 finale of "Fringe"

No word yet on when Nimoy will appear but a good bet would be for the season finale. Following tonight’s episode there are just seven more episodes left in the third season, most of which have already been shot. Nimoy has previously appeared as William Bell in seven episodes of the series (including a couple times just by voice).

Tune into Fringe tonight

The third season of Fringe has been very sci-fi heavy, with dueling stories spanning the alternate realities. Most fans agree that this is the best season so far, but the show is still "on the bubble" for renewal. And if you are a Fringe fan, make sure to watch tonight’s big flashback episode "Subject 13", which is getting lots of good buzz. Fox is also running a Tweet-a-thon with producers and a star of the show for both the East and West coasts.

Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek’s Spock Prime, was supposed to be retiring, however that break seems to be delayed. Nimoy has already announced a number of convention appearances, and now the actor says he may be returning to TV to reprise his role on the Fox sci-fi show Fringe. Details below.

Nimoy talks return to Fringe

Last May Leonard Nimoy appeared as William Bell in the season finale for Fringe, the sci-fi show created by the Star Trek team of JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. At the time Nimoy said it would be his last job as an actor.

Nimoy in Season 2 finale of "Fringe"

However, today the actor revealed that there may be more. This afternoon Nimoy let his Twitter followers know that there is a plan developing to return to Fringe.

This in not the first indication that Nimoy could return to Fringe this season. In October Christopher Lloyd said that Nimoy would be joining him on Fringe. That episode ("Firefly") aired last week without Nimoy, however a source tells TrekMovie that the Fringe team did attempt to get Nimoy into that episode. That episode was shot shortly after Nimoy was hospitalized for abdominal surgery, but it appears that the Fringe team have continued to persue the actor to come back to the show.

The weekend of October 22-24, Creation Entertainment held an Official Star Trek Convention in Rosemont (near Chicago), Illinois. Leonard Nimoy was not able to attend due to surgery, however he still made news via an announcement from Star Trek III actor Christopher Lloyd, who revealed Nimoy is returning to Fringe.

Lloyd Reveals Nimoy Returning to Fringe

One of the guests at the Star Trek convention in Chicago was actor Christopher Lloyd (Star Trek III Kruge & Back the the Future’s Doc Brown) whose varied characters were celebrated in a question and answer panel. A fellow fan asked Lloyd what it was like to work with Leonard Nimoy as a director on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Lloyd was very complimentary, discussing what a good artist and person Nimoy is and expressing his relief that it appears that Mr. Nimoy’s current medical situation isn’t too serious.

Lloyd then mentioned that he will be soon filming an episode of Fringe. Lloyd’s casting (in the tenth episode of the current season) as a musical icon and hero of Walter Bishop on Fringe was reported last week, and included in the latest TrekMovie Sci-Fi TV update. However, Lloyd then made some news, revealing that Leonard Nimoy would be joining him in the same episode of Fringe, reprising his role as William Bell. The audience, to say the least, was very enthusiastic about that information and it was exciting news generated at the convention.

Leonard Nimoy last appeared in May, in the the season two finale of Fringe, and at the time he stated it would be his last role, not only on Fringe, but as an actor. However, Nimoy has sometimes noted that he has learned to "never say never", so it appears (if his health allows) that he will be back on Fringe again.

Clips of Fringe Season 2 finale and interview with Nimoy

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2010/10/26/christopher-lloyd-leonard-nimoy-returning-to-fringe/feed/41Leonard Nimoy On Finality Of Retirement & Closure For Spock + New Photograpy Showhttps://trekmovie.com/2010/08/02/leonard-nimoy-on-finality-of-retirement-closure-for-spock-new-photograpy-show/
https://trekmovie.com/2010/08/02/leonard-nimoy-on-finality-of-retirement-closure-for-spock-new-photograpy-show/#commentsMon, 02 Aug 2010 20:20:11 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=15654This week Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy has a new photography show all about "Secret Selves" open in Massachusetts. In a new NPR interview promoting the opening, Nimoy also talked about how the Star Trek movie brought closure to Spock and how his decision to retire is final. Details below.

Leonard Nimoy on retirement and bringing closure to Spock

In an interview with WAMC Public Radio, mostly focusing on his new "Secret Selves" photography show, Leonard Nimoy also discussed his retirement of acting (which seems very final) and his final time as Spock.

Nimoy on his "announcement" to retire from acting

It was an accident [laughs]. I was finishing a conversation last year after I had done the Star Trek movie last year and typically [journalists] will say "What’s next for Leonard Nimoy?", and I said "that’s it, I’m done, I have had enough of this" off the top of my head. I hadn’t planned on making an announcement, but it went out there like a shot "Nimoy Quits…Nimoy Retires…It’s Over". And I was kind of glad. It gave some finality to the idea. Otherwise I might have dibbled along for a while and I didn’t want to do that, so it was. So it was an accident, but a happy accident.

Nimoy on his final roles in Star Trek and Fringe

I went back to the Star Trek movie because it offered me a chance to do something with the Spock character that we had not done, and that was to kind of bring him around full circle and give some closure to the character. And then having done that and having a very good experience, the people who made the Star Trek movie asked me as a favor to do some appearances on the Fringe television show and I did five episodes, and I said "you got it guys" and they said "if we come to your home, can we shoot some more?" and I said "no, it’s done". So it’s over. I am totally committed to the photography now.

Nimoy in Season 2 finale of "Fringe" – his final appearance as actor

Got to WMAC to listen to the full interview with Leonard Nimoy, talking about retirement and his new Secret Selves show.

Nimoy’s new Secret Selves show

Leonard Nimoy’s "Secret Selves" show is open now at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA and R. Michelson Gallery in Northampton, MA. The theme of the show is to show the subjects "alternate identity" as subjects were asked to show who they thought they could be.

Nimoy at his "Secret Selves" preview

You can order the book for secret selves for $39, or $75 signed by Nimoy

Here is a clip from the DVD that comes with the book.

Here is Nimoy talking to Bill Shatner on Raw Nerve about the idea for "Secret Selves".

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2010/08/02/leonard-nimoy-on-finality-of-retirement-closure-for-spock-new-photograpy-show/feed/32EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Fringe’s Lance Reddick Is Trekkie & Wants Sequel Role + Anna Torv Talks Nimoy’s Last Dayhttps://trekmovie.com/2010/06/29/exclusive-video-fringe-actors-anna-torv-lance-reddick-talk-season-3-working-with-nimoy-star-trek/
https://trekmovie.com/2010/06/29/exclusive-video-fringe-actors-anna-torv-lance-reddick-talk-season-3-working-with-nimoy-star-trek/#commentsWed, 30 Jun 2010 01:28:00 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=14862Last Thursday JJ Abrams Fringe won two acting Saturn Awards (Ann Torv and Leonard Nimoy. TrekMovie spoke to Nimoy and Torv along with Fringe’s Lance Reddick before the show. Torv talked about season 3 of Fringe and being the last actress to work with Nimoy. Reddick talked about S3 and his goal of getting into the Star Trek sequel. And Nimoy reacted to Bill Shatner’s disbelief of his retirement. See video and more photos below

Fringe actors talk Star Trek and Nimoy and Fringe Season 3

Lance Reddick

Expects S3 of Fringe to "spend a lot of time going back and forth between universes"

Expects to see "a lot of development" between the two Olivias

Says he is a really big Star Trek fan, with Voyager as favorite show

Reddick "had a crush" on Captain Janeway

Favorite VOY episode "Year of Hell"

He has "absolutely" lobbied for a part in Star Trek, but it was too late for first movie

Abrams said maybe a role in the sequel

Thinks it is possible that William Bell (Nimoy) can return to Fringe, as "anything is possible" with JJ Abrams

Anna Torv

Shooting starts next week on season 3

Expects that the casting of her mother is for the mother of the alternate universe Olivia

She didn’t until later her scenes with Nimoy for Fringe were to be his last as an actor, but says he still got a huge round of applause when he wrapped

Leonard Nimoy:

Didn’t get much time with Nimoy, only got asked to react to William Shatner’s claim that his retirement isn’t real, Nimoy’s only reaction was "who?"

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2010/06/29/exclusive-video-fringe-actors-anna-torv-lance-reddick-talk-season-3-working-with-nimoy-star-trek/feed/13LA Times Film Fest: Leonard Nimoy Talks Star Trek, Fringe & More: Full Video & Highlightshttps://trekmovie.com/2010/06/12/full-video-of-leonard-nimoy-talking-star-trek-fringe-more-from-la-times-film-fest/
https://trekmovie.com/2010/06/12/full-video-of-leonard-nimoy-talking-star-trek-fringe-more-from-la-times-film-fest/#commentsSat, 12 Jun 2010 22:56:45 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=14461Last night the LA Times kicked off their Hero Complex Weekend Film Festival with a showing of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, with guest Leonard Nimoy. Video from the event is now online, and you can watch the entire Nimoy discussion and Q&A below. We also have some highlights of his comments.

Nimoy at STIV Screening 6/11/2010

Highlights from Nimoy

On Star Trek (pre-ST09)

"very grateful" that ever since Star Trek he has never had to worry about work

George Lucas "did us a favor" as Star Wars "put Star Trek back into production"

On Star Trek: The Motion Picture, director Robert Wise wanted it to be big and grand like 2001, focusing on long shots of the ships and the characters ended up "Just like passengers"

Does Shatner impression of the "Of all the souls…" Kirk eulogy from Star Trek II (Pt. 1)

On directing Star Trek III, he was impressed with Nick Meyer’s Star Trek II, but "felt jealous" and that he knew Star Trek and used his "leverage" to get directed gig for III

Only agreed to direct Star Trek IV after Jeff Katzenberg agreed to let him make "his" Star Trek movie and "take the training wheels off"

On trying to get Eddie Murphy into Star Trek IV "we kept working on it, but it just didn’t work, it felt like an implant", Murphy was going going to play radio talk show host who believed in UFO’s and was trying to find the crew

"One big regret" on Star Trek VI was it never met goal finding out more about Klingons and "what makes them so angry", felt "got certain level of it, but not to the heart of it"

On Next Generation: "I was happy to see it go on, I didn’t watch a lot of it, I thought there was a lot of good work done, good talented people."

Said he would only direct Star Trek Generations, if Paramount agreed to let him work on major rewrite, which they didn’t agree to so he didn’t do it

On Star Trek 2009

On Abrams, Orci, & Kurtzman: "they really got it" and "they treated me very well, whenever I arrived they were appropriately in awe"

One of the reasons he agreed to return to Star Trek 2009 was that he didn’t feel he had "closure" for the Spock character and got "teared up" after hearing Orci, Kurtzman and Abrams talk about their approach

On first reaction to Zachary Quinto: "He looks enough like me to make it work, but more importantly he has some brains, you can see some thinking"

On Star Trek 2009: "I thought the movie was terrific. I thought they gave me interesting stuff to play as Spock. I thought they handled the whole Spock story extremely well."

On Fringe:

Nimoy didn’t like the work in his first episodes in Fringe and was resistant to return this season, felt he was just their for exposition.

Took JJ Abrams to call to get him to return to Fringe, and was now "glad" he did it, and happy that William Bell "went out in a blaze of glory saving everybody, like Spock did at the end of Star Trek II."

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2010/06/12/full-video-of-leonard-nimoy-talking-star-trek-fringe-more-from-la-times-film-fest/feed/35Leonard Nimoy “Hopes It Works Out” For William Shatner and Star Trek Sequelhttps://trekmovie.com/2010/05/17/leonard-nimoy-hopes-it-works-out-for-william-shatner-and-star-trek-sequel/
https://trekmovie.com/2010/05/17/leonard-nimoy-hopes-it-works-out-for-william-shatner-and-star-trek-sequel/#commentsTue, 18 May 2010 02:10:59 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=13944This Thursday Fox airs the season finale of JJ Abrams Fringe, featuring what is likely the last performance of Leonard Nimoy as an actor. Nimoy recently did a conference call with reporters discussing the finale, where he also talks about his decision to retire (again) from acting, and he gives his thoughts on the next Star Trek.

Nimoy on retirement and Shatner in Star Trek sequel

Nimoy on why Fringe will be his last job as an actor

It’s really coincidental. It wasn’t anything about the Fringe job or the character of William Bell that made me decide I didn’t want to do this anymore. It’s a coincidence. I’ve been at this for 60 years. My first professional work in film was in 1950. 60 years, I think, is long enough. I had decided not to do anymore acting and directing several years ago. I was called back to work to do the Star Trek movie, which was very attractive. I thought it was going to be a wonderful film. I read the script and a great handling of the Spock character and an introduction of wonderful new actor to play Spock. Then, J.J. Abrams who is the executive producer of Fringe asked me to do the William Bell character. I thought I owed him that. I’m very glad that I did it because it was an exciting project. It’s just coincidental that I decided some time ago that I really didn’t want to do this anymore. I just did this last job as a favor to J.J. Abrams. I’m glad I did it. I think we’ll see
an exciting episode next week. It’s a very good note to go out on.

Leonard Nimoy in season finale of "Fringe"

Nimoy on the next Star Trek movie and if Shatner should be in it

I have no idea about the next film regarding Bill Shatner. I’m quite sure – I think I can be definitive about the fact that I will not be in it. I have said that I think it’s time for me to get off the stage and make some room for Zachary Quinto who is the new Spock and a wonderful actor, looks a lot like me. And I’m very flattered that the character will be continued by an actor of that caliber. He’s very well trained and very talented. I have no expectations whatsoever even being asked to be in the next Star Trek film. I cannot speak for J.J. Abrams or William Shatner. If they have a common interest, I hope it works out.

Go to MovieWeb to read the full call transcript, which has more from Nimoy on the Fringe finale and his retirement.

Once again it is time to take the pulse on what seems like an eternal question.

[poll=583]

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2010/05/17/leonard-nimoy-hopes-it-works-out-for-william-shatner-and-star-trek-sequel/feed/186Leonard Nimoy Says He Is Ready To Retire From Acting (Again)https://trekmovie.com/2010/03/22/leonard-nimoy-says-he-is-ready-to-retire-from-acting-again/
https://trekmovie.com/2010/03/22/leonard-nimoy-says-he-is-ready-to-retire-from-acting-again/#commentsTue, 23 Mar 2010 06:26:33 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=12469Leonard Nimoy came out of retirement to appear as Spock one more time in the 2009 Star Trek movie. JJ Abrams was also able to convince him to appear on his TV show Fringe (where he will appear again later this season). However, in a new interview the actor states that these roles are likely his last. Details below.

Nimoy on Trek and Fringe

Recently Leonard Nimoy revealed that 2010 will be his last year attending conventions, so he is doing a bit of a victory lap, appearing at a number of cons throughout the year (including the big Star Trek con in Vegas in August). He has already appeared at the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle. He will be appearing next at the Calgary Entertainment Expo on April 24th and 25th. He will also be dropping by Vulcan, Alberta, Canada on April 23rd. Promoting his trip to Canada, Nimoy has given a new brief interview to the Calgary Herald, where he talks about his plans to re-retire.

On returning as Spock in the Star Trek sequel, Leonard Nimoy told the Calgary Herald:

I don’t see it happening. I’m comfortable. I’m not glad, I’m not sad. I feel like I’ve had a great ride with the character. . . we started making Star Trek pilots in 1964. I’ve been involved in Star Trek for 44, 45 years. It’s been a wonderful ride for me and it’s been great for my family. We got to do some very interesting work outside of Star Trek because of Star Trek and I’m very satisfied.

Nimoy in "Star Trek" – likely his last time as Spock

As previously reported, Leonard Nimoy will be reprising his role as William Bell on the Abrams/Orci/Kurtzman Fox show Fringe. Nimoy will appear in three or four episodes at the end of the current season. And it appears these episodes may be Nimoy’s last work as an actor. Here is what he told the Herald when asked if his Fringe work would be his last role:

"I certainly hope so," he says with a laugh. "I’ve been doing it long enough, so I hope so. I’ve had a great, great run and I have no unfulfilled dreams or aspirations.

So it looks like that Big Bang Theorycameo isn’t going to happen. But, after a career spanning six decades, this is no surprise. Leonard Nimoy’s recent return from retirement in the Star Trek movie and on Fringe has been a great encore.

Nimoy as William Bell in "Fringe" – likely his last role

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2010/03/22/leonard-nimoy-says-he-is-ready-to-retire-from-acting-again/feed/95Leonard Nimoy on Star Trek, Sequel, Fringe & Quitting Conventionshttps://trekmovie.com/2010/03/12/leonard-nimoy-on-star-trek-sequel-fringe-quitting-conventions/
https://trekmovie.com/2010/03/12/leonard-nimoy-on-star-trek-sequel-fringe-quitting-conventions/#commentsSat, 13 Mar 2010 01:48:00 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=12279As reported yesterday, Leonard Nimoy will be attending the Emerald City Comic Con this weekend in Seattle, WA. There is another good interview with the actor promoting the event, where he discusses his past and future with Star Trek, Fringe and how he isn’t going to be attending conventions after 2010. Excerpts below.

The success of the recent “Star Trek” movie has generated renewed interest in both Spock and Nimoy. ComiCon is just one of 10 such events he’ll be appearing at this year. However, Nimoy says, it’s time to boldly go where he hasn’t gone before.

“I think this is the last year I will do this. It’s exciting, but I think I’ve done enough of it. I’m looking forward to concentrating on my personal life.”

Finally, according to the report, Nimoy says that he will be filming "three or four" episodes of JJ Abrams FOX sci-fi show Fringe over the next few weeks.

Leonard Nimoy in Fringe – returning for 3 or 4 episodes

Audio interview with Nimoy

Yesterday we put up some excerpts from Leonard Nimoy’s radio interview with KIRO Seattle. The audio for that is now available, take a listen.

The Emerald City Comic Con is being held at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle this weekend. The two Star Trek guests are Wil Wheaton and Leonard Nimoy. Other guests include Aaron Douglas (BSG), Erin Gray (Buck Rogers) and Stan Lee (Marvel Comics). More info at emeraldcitycomicon.com

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2010/03/12/leonard-nimoy-on-star-trek-sequel-fringe-quitting-conventions/feed/44FOX Renews Fringe For 3rd Seasonhttps://trekmovie.com/2010/03/06/fox-renews-fringe-for-3rd-season/
https://trekmovie.com/2010/03/06/fox-renews-fringe-for-3rd-season/#commentsSat, 06 Mar 2010 20:19:26 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=12090Fringe, the FOX sci-fi show from Star Trek’s JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, has been renewed for a third season. Details below, plus the latest comments from JJ Abrams on the season two finale.

Fringe gets a third season

According to Entertainment Weekly, Fox has picked up Fringe for a third season. EW details that even though the show has been on the bubble, it has still performing well enough:

Though the show isn’t exactly blowing the roof off of Nielsen — it’s been averaging just 7.6 million viewers and is ranked No. 50 in the all-important adults 18-49 demographic this season — it managed to survive in a tough new time period on Thursdays.

JJ talks Fringe (alternate) universe

Between Star Trek and Lost and Fringe, the worlds of JJ Abrams are chock-full of time-travel and alternate universes. At an event last weekend, Abrams talked about how the two universes in Fringe are at the heart of the season two finale (via SciFiWire):

I think the whole alternate-universe idea is at the core of what’s going to be happening. Without giving anything away, I think that the ending of this second season is, I think, richer and better and deeper than what we did last year. I mean, last year was definitely shocking, but I think the end of this year is different, but I think equally impactful."

Fringe is Back April 1

Fringe returns after a hiatus on April 1st with the mythology filled episode "Peter". Here is a preview:

More Sci-Fi TV News coming
We have more Fringe and genre TV news coming tomorrow in our regular weekend wrap-up, so stay tuned.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2010/03/06/fox-renews-fringe-for-3rd-season/feed/53Video of JJ Abrams From Last Week’s Star Trek Home Video Press Eventhttps://trekmovie.com/2009/10/13/video-of-jj-abrams-from-last-weeks-star-trek-home-video-press-event/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/10/13/video-of-jj-abrams-from-last-weeks-star-trek-home-video-press-event/#commentsTue, 13 Oct 2009 09:01:14 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=8078Last week Star Trek director JJ Abrams conducted a Q&A at a press event promoting the upcoming Star Trek DVD and Blu-ray releases. TrekMovie posted a partial transcript, which covered what JJ said, not related to the home video releases. Video from the event is now available online, which includes poritions related to the DVD and Blu-ray releases (which was previously under media embargo). Watch it below

JJ Abrams talking Star Trek and moreVideo from the event is courtesy of Latino Review, which made an iPhone recording. Here is the full video (in 6 part playlist). NOTE: You will have to raise your volume.

[part 1] Home video special feature crews filmed all aspects of film starting with pre-production, including many unsung heroes of the project

[part 1] Victor Garber (Alias) played one of the Klingons from the cut sequences

[part 2] Deleted scene will explain coincidences like Spock Prime and Kirk meeting in cave on Delta Vega, but Abrams think it didn’t need to be explained because it was fate of a "family that nothing will keep apart"

[part 3] JJ’s notion of the ‘mystery box‘ was applied to opening of Star Trek with the mystery of who the Romulans were and why did they attack the Federation ship

[part 4] The home video special features Abrams is most proud of are the ones that show the "personality of the actors" and the behind the scenes work from Roger Guyett & ILM, Scott Chambliss and other aspects of the production

PREORDERSStar Trek home video releases are coming November 17th. You can pre-order your copy or copies below.

In addition to JJ Abrams (see previous story), writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were also on hand at the Paramount Home Video press day. The pair took a lot of questions about the Star Trek sequel as well as their other projects, and we have full details on all of it below. Plus there is some late breaking news that the pair are producing a new Hawaii Five-0.

Q&A WITH ROBERT ORCI AND ALEX KURTZMAN`

Bob and Alex on Star Trek sequel

Question: For the Star Trek sequel, is it more interesting to you to come up with a brand new adventure for this characters, or to reinterpret and revisit a previous episode or a previous situation? What would be more rewarding for you?

Alex Kurtzman: Every franchise has a different need, so you have to look at them differently, based on whatever the mandate is there. In the case of Transformers it was very important for us to have a sequel idea that stood on its own. You need to be able to not have seen the first movie to appreciate the second one. But, I think for us, it’s always about going back to the sequels that we loved as kids and asking ourselves why we loved them. So, Empire Strikes Back, Superman 2, Aliens, Terminator 2, Star Trek 2. What do all those movies have in common? Well, they’re amazing stories, all on their own. You didn’t have to see the first movie, and there was some incredible, emotional test of character in all of those movies. Superman has to give up his powers for love. The Spock and Kirk relationship being tested by Khan. Ripley finding a daughter. All of those things are such big ideas in and of themselves, and you really can’t tell those stories in
movie one, because movie one is very much about establishing a world.

Bob Orci: How would you classify the first movie? As an original or as a riff on an old story?… We’d want some kind of similar balance with the second one.

Question: Are there any concepts or notions, things you wanted to squeeze into the first Star Trek that you couldn’t, that you would like to revisit for the sequel?

Bob: We had a few characters in early drafts, [Nurse Christine] Chapel, maybe some friends at the Academy. But in terms of big concepts, there is nothing where it was "oh, we are not going to be able to fit that in."

Alex: We kind of threw it all in, in the first one.

Question: Is there anything from Enterprise or Next Generation or Deep Space or elements, like the Borg, Cardassians, Bajorans, anything on the top of your list that you might want to throw in to the next movie?

Bob: I think we’d think about it, just because we do love The Next Generation…I think our instinct would be to first look at The Original Series, before we considered that. But, all that is on the table.

Question: It has been reported that there is an idea of doing the 2 and 3 Star Trek movies back-to-back? Is there any possibility of that?

Alex: It’s very, very important to us to make sure that each movie is good, not “Hey, let’s do as many as possible,” but make sure they’re good. We feel like we’ve inherited this incredible honor and this mantle of Star Trek, and the most important thing is to make sure that we’re protecting that first. So, if the studio wants more than one, great. But, our thinking is going to be very much about the story and whether the story prescribes that there will be more than one. Part of what is great about Star Trek is that it’s a continuing adventure, so you naturally think that there will be many, hopefully, but we only focus on what comes next, and then build off of that. Right now, we’re not thinking specifically about making 2 and 3. It may come up, but it’s not where our heads are at right now.

Question: Recently Bob, you and JJ talked about allegory for the sequel and going back to that Original Series notion doing an allegory. I think you alluded to torture. How are you going to balance the allegory and still keep the positive future.

Bob: The torture thing was just a for instance. Someone asked, “Modern day issues like torture?,” and we said, “Yeah, sure, modern day issues,” but, we’re not doing a story about Gitmo as I read on some site that it was going to be about Guantanamo Bay. But, now that we’ve established the characters, we can have a more philosophical allegory, where what’s happening in the future represents our world, like the best versions of it in the ’60’s did, representing women’s rights, racial equality, progressive issues.

Question: And can you give a status update on where you are with the story and the script, etc.

Bob: We’re still just brainstorming, internally and are going to get together soon and bust our riffs out and see what happens, and start putting it together.

Question: So, you haven’t figured out a story yet?

Bob: No.

Question: As fans of The Original Series and mythology, have you given any thought as to how you could incorporate Khan?

Alex: Where we’re starting is, “Okay, where are our characters now? What are interesting complications that we can put in their lives? What feels like an organic emotional place for us to get to? How do we want to test them?” And then, you look at everything and start asking, “Who would be the best foe?”

Bob: There are mental exercises we play. You can’t be a fan of this and not sit around and wonder.

Alex: But, the short answer is that we haven’t landed on anybody yet.

Question: Have you guys decided how much time will have passed between the first Star Trek film and the sequel? Are they still going to be new on the job, or will they have some experience?

Bob: We’re actually debating that.

Alex: We don’t have an answer yet.

Bob and Alex on writing process and other projects

Question: Now that Cowboys and Aliens script is a go, how is that film developing and how is it to work with Jon Favreau?

Alex: It’s the greatest.

Bob: We just started and we’re getting along really well. We’ve sent ourselves back to school and we’re watching Westerns together and analyzing them. We’re just getting into it.

Question: Have you found any good references?

Alex: Oh, yeah.

Bob: We just watched The Searchers last.

Alex: We had a lot of these Westerns in our head, but Jon is an incredible fountain of Western knowledge.

Bob: And, Star Trek was originally pitched as a space Western, anyway, so it was a nice lead up to this, for us.

Alex: I think Jon also comes from a very similar emotional place and, because he’s an actor, he knows what plays and what doesn’t play very quickly. We’re having an unbelievably good time working with him.

Question: What is your involvement with Fringe this season?

Bob: We come in about once a week, and then we’ll oversee two or three episodes during the season, where we work with another writer. We all divvy up overseeing part of the staff, to generate episodes. We all sat around for weeks, early on in this year, to figure out what the overall season would be, and then we check in once or twice a week and oversee a couple episodes.

Question: Does JJ Abrams have the same schedule?

Bob: Yeah. We switch off. He’ll check in and oversee another episode when we’re not around. That way, there’s a constant stream of us consulting and helping the great showrunners that we have, Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman.

Alex: The credit really goes to them, honestly. Jeff and Joel are carrying the show right now, in an amazing way. They’re in there seven days a week. They’re there all the time, 24 hours a day.

Question: Do you have an update on the View-Master film

Alex: We’ve read a lot of the wildly cynical response to that. What I’ll say is that some toys should be movies and some toys should not be movies, and I’d like to believe we know the difference between those things. The movies that work, work when there’s a story there that you could take the toy out of, but then, when you put the toy in, it becomes an even more amazing experience, for whatever reason. Brad Kane, who was a writer for us on Fringe, came to us with an amazing idea, that had absolutely nothing to do with View-Master. We loved it and thought it was fantastic.

Bob: But, we said, “It’s missing one thing. I don’t know what that thing could be.”

Alex: And, along came View-Master, and it sounded like the perfect marriage of ideas. But, it’s because we started with a story that felt like it could be told, all on its own, before that came along. So, it’s like, “Bring it on!” If you want to be cynical about View-Master, great ’cause we’re so confidence in where it’s going to end up going that we feel like there’s nowhere to go, but up.

Bob: Spielberg actually told us once that his first draft story of E.T. didn’t have an alien in it. It was a family drama about a kid missing his father, and E.T. was born from that. And, that’s always stuck in our minds. You’ve got to be able to take out the thing.

Question: Because you are involved in so many projects at one time, how do you structure your time?

Bob: Fist of all there are two of us, and that is how we structure our time. And we have kind that we are never breaking the soul of the story at the same time. You can’t do two roadmaps simultaneously.

Alex: Television taught us a lot about muti-tasking. You are breaking a story while you are writing an outline, while you are writing a script, while you shooting a show, while you are posting a show, five episodes all at once. So you learn the discipline of figuring out how to focus on each thing as you go. In our partnership, one of the things we foundearly on, is is that one of the things we really liked is the energy that comes of of doing many things at once. You can step away from a problem and put your brain in something else, and come back half an hour later and have a fresh perspective. The other thing is to let as many voices into the process as possible, you want a sense of checks and balances. You never want to be dictatorial. It is a very open dialog, especial for something like Star Trek or Transformers, there are so many voices in that process, you have to let it in and let it be a part of what you do.

Question: You guys and JJ like surprises in your movies. What surprises you in the movies?

Alex: I was very surprised by District 9. I was surprised by it for a number of reasons. It was not the movie that was marketed, and I thought that was very bold. If I had read that script, I would have said there is no way this is going to work. Where it goes, it is going to be impossible to execute, and yet it was executed so brilliantly and so emotionally and I think that was my studio notes training, because a studio would never have allowed that movie to exist the way that it did. Yet, it became this massive success. I think that those kind of break-outs are truly surprising because they give you hope that you still be doing something different and be doing genre. It was an incredibly bold and great movie.

Book em’ Dano: Bob and Alex producing Hawaii Five-0 reboot
In late-breaking news, tonight Variety reported that Bob and Alex are going to reboot another classic franchise, this time the 70s cop show Hawaii Five-O for CBS. A script is currently being developed for the pilot by Peter Lenkov (CSI: NY) under Kurtzman and Orci’s supervision, with Lenkov serving as showrunner (if picked up).

More to comeLook for more coverage on the Star Trek home video releases coming November 17th. You can pre-order your copy or copies below.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/10/08/orci-and-kurtzman-on-the-star-trek-sequel-fringe-writing-process-more/feed/162More Trek and Fringe Talk From Leonard Nimoyhttps://trekmovie.com/2009/10/08/more-trek-and-fringe-talk-from-leonard-nimoy/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/10/08/more-trek-and-fringe-talk-from-leonard-nimoy/#commentsThu, 08 Oct 2009 22:55:15 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=7979Tonight Leonard Nimoy returns to Fringe as William Bell in the episode "Momentum Deferred" (FOX: 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). Today FOX released a transcript with this week’s conference call with Nimoy, where he talks about the role and also his other JJ Abrams collaboration, Star Trek. We have some of the more interesting excerpts below, plus a special video all about William Bell.

Nimoy talks Fringe and Trek

Question: I was wondering, did you have any reservations on taking another role with the potential of such a fanatic following?

Nimoy: I love this question. I can’t help but laugh because you’re absolutely right. It’s an interesting set of circumstances. What attracted me to it was several things. J.J. Abrams, Bob Orci, and Alex Kurtzman, who I worked with on the Star Trek movie, I admire their talent and the work that they do. The series is at the very least to say intriguing. The character was somewhat of a blank slate, but we began talking about it and, therefore, attracted because there’s an opportunity to build an interesting and unpredictable character. I’m enjoying it a lot.

Question: So lately it seems as if you’re J.J. Abrams’ muse of sorts. Can you tell us a little bit more about your relationship with him?

Nimoy: Well, I first met him I guess about three years ago when he first contacted me about the possibility of working together, and I went to a meeting with he and Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman and some of his production staff. They told me a very good and strong and touching story about their feelings about Star Trek and specifically the Spock character.

It gave me a sense of validation after all these years. I had been out of it for some time, as you’re probably aware. There were several Star Trek series in which I was not involved and Star Trek movies in which I was not involved. This was a re-validation of the work that I had done, the work that we had done on the original Star Trek. I felt very good about it and went to work for them.

I had a great time working on the movie. I think they did a brilliant job, and I think the audience response shows that that was the case and has reinvigorated the franchise. And when they contacted me about working on Fringe—the same people, the same attitude, the same creativity, the same creative team—it was very enticing.

Question: I was wondering how you felt about the current state of science fiction on TV and film.

Nimoy: Well, I’m concerned about the positioning of story in terms of importance. When I see a lot of explosions and a lot of chases, I’m not terribly impressed. I think there are three terribly important elements that must be given a priority position in science fiction as well as in any other kind of drama. The first is story, the second is story, and the third is story. Story, story, story, story, story. If the story is compelling and interesting, I think all the rest will find its place.

We have great technology in our industry, and that technology can be overused at the expense of story. And that’s a problem for me, but when the story is in place, I think the special effects can find their proper place. I think Fringe uses the technology brilliantly, but in the service of excellent story-telling.

Question: You had not been acting for awhile, and then you’ve done Star Trek and Fringe pretty recently together. Having stepped away for awhile and then returned, are your feelings about acting what they were, or have they changed, do you find?

Nimoy: Well, I’m enjoying it. I’m very comfortable in the two offers that I’ve accepted. The Star Trek movie was a joy to do. I admire the production team that made the film. I admire the new cast. Zachary Quinto I thought was a great choice for the new Spock, and it was a pleasure to work with him and with all the other people on the project.

The Fringe character was intriguing because, as I’ve mentioned, it was kind of a blank slate and we had some very interesting and intense conversations about who and what he could be and how we should perceive him, what we might or might not learn about him, what we might or might not trust about him. These are intriguing opportunities for an actor, and they came at a time when I … and from a group of people that I had respect for. They piqued my interest and I went back to work. I did not expect to, frankly, be acting so much at this time in my life. My concentration was on my photography, but I’m having a wonderful time doing it.

Question: Are we going to see a second William Bell?

Nimoy: I don’t think I can really answer that question very specifically right now. I think the most important thing is that tomorrow night we will get a sense of what his relationship is with Olivia. It’s very intriguing and very intense moments that take place tomorrow night, and the rest remains to be seen.

I’m waiting to see what these terribly imaginative writers come up with for the future. I’m expecting that I probably will be going back to work for them before too much longer. I’m looking forward to what they send me on the page. But, right now, I think we go a long way tomorrow night in discovering what William Bell is all about.

Question: Have [JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman] mentioned anything about their needs for you on an upcoming Star Trek movie?

Nimoy: No. My understanding is they’re working on a script right now. I expect there’s going to be some time before they really know exactly who they need and what they need. I frankly, frankly doubt that I will be called upon again.

I think I was useful in his last film to help bridge between the original characters, the original actors, and the new cast. They have a wonderful new cast in place, and I’m sure they’ll move ahead with them. I don’t see, at the moment, why they would need me in the next film, although, if they called me, I’d be happy to have a conversation about it.

Question: What sort of acting challenges have you found playing the William Bell character so far, would you say?

Nimoy: Well, the first thing was some wonderful and creative conversations that I had with J.J. Abrams and Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the writers, to try—and with Jeff Pinkner, who’s the show runner—to try to create from scratch a character that’s never been seen before, only been referred to. There are certain things that were given, which is that he’s a power figure and a very wealthy and obviously a terribly intelligent man with a scientific background.

But, in terms of characteristics, we started from scratch, and I think tomorrow night a lot more of those characteristics will be evident. It’s great fun to be building the character from scratch, with certain givens, but so much to be developed in terms of the way he talks, the way he walks, idiosyncracies, his tastes, is he difficult, is he gruff, is he charming, is he a nice guy, what are his real intentions. All of these are great exploration for an actor.

Question: So you had your scene with the Olivia …, with Anna Torv. Did you get a chance to meet any other actors, and did you get an opinion of them?

Nimoy: No. I have not worked with the others. Only Olivia so far. I’m looking forward to meeting and working with all the others. They’re very talented people, and I admire the work they do. But so far, all my work has been with the Olivia character, and I think she does a wonderful job on the show, by the way. They all do. They’re very good. Hello?

Question: I know Mr. Spock’s character could be kind of complex at times, I would think, and I was wondering about your character as William Bell. Is there a particular character flaw or even something good that you would like to have highlighted in future episodes?

Nimoy: This is a wonderful question. I’m really looking forward to this character unfolding in a very interesting kind of way. I think you’ll see, tomorrow night, one very strong aspect of him and certain idiosyncracies that are being developed. But I do think there’s a long way to go. I think there’s a lot to be discovered, and I’m looking forward to discovering it with the audience.

It’s really not up to me to write the scripts. I don’t do the writing, but the writers are clever, inventive, creative. They’re very bright people. I’m counting on them to give us some really interesting character touches in the future.

Question: Have you found that there’s anything different in the way television is done these days or what it requires of you as an actor, or is that aspect of work still pretty much the same?

Nimoy: Well, I’d say that’s a good question. Thank you. I think it’s safe to say that what an audience is seeing today on screen in the television episode is far more complex than what we were doing when we were, for example, making the original Star Trek series in the ‘60s. We were very, very heavy on pages and pages of dialogue and very little special effects, but because the technology has advanced so greatly, it’s possible to do some very complex and very exciting and very useful technical stuff on the shows these days, so we don’t have to rely quite so much on the story being told by the actors speaking.

On the other hand, there is a danger, as I mentioned earlier, of going too far with the special effects at the expense of story. But if the story is well done, if the story’s in place strongly, the special effects can be enormously helpful to the actors, far more so than they were years ago when we were making the original Star Trek series.

Question: But are you saying that these days you’re allowed to do a little more nuance in the acting and not have to so much deliver the exposition because that—

Nimoy: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Exactly, exactly, exactly. Delivering the exposition is the toughest part of the job, and if it can be done visually and physically, it’s a big help. Exactly.

Question: Mr. Nimoy, obviously, with Star Trek, you set the gold standard in science fiction. What do you think about the products that have come out in recent years, things like Lost or Battlestar Galactica, or even Fringe for that matter?

Nimoy: Well, I’m really impressed. I’m impressed. I think there’s some very, very good work being done, and certainly in terms of production value. It’s head and shoulders above what we were able to do years ago.

I keep coming back to my baseline, which is the story. If the story is good and all this new technology can work to the service of the story, I’m excited about some of the work that’s being done. I look and I say, “Wow.” In tomorrow night’s episode, there are things being done that I wouldn’t know how to do.

I directed two of the Star Trek films and I produced one. I don’t know how they’re doing some of these effects that they’re doing now in these TV shows and on TV budgets. I’m terribly impressed. I think it’s a very exciting medium to be working in today, particularly if the script is good, the story’s in place.

Question: What is still on your “to do” list with all the things you’ve done in the world?

Nimoy: Well, I’m looking forward to developing the William Bell character further. I hope the writers are interested in working with the character. I am. I don’t know how much further we’ll go with it, but the character, so far, has been very intriguing and the whole Fringe company has been very good to me. I’m delighted to be involved.

I am still actively involved with my photography work. I’m working on a current project, which is called Secret Selves, which is about hidden or fantasy or private personalities that people bring for me to photograph. And there will be an exhibition of that name, Secret Selves, at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art opening next summer, a solo exhibition. I’m excited about that.

Everyone is talking William Bell
William Bell is the Kaiser Soze of Fringe. Everyone is always talking about him, as this video demonstrates>

Tomorrow night Leonard Nimoy returns to television for his second appearance on the FOX show Fringe, the show created by the Star Trek team of JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. We have more details, a first look, a promo video and some excerpts with a new interview by the actor below.

Nimoy’s Fringe[SPOILERS] Leonard Nimoy appeared briefly in the season finale of Fringe’s first season, playing the enigmatic William Bell. Although often referred to on the show, it wasn’t until the last moments of the season that FBI agent Olivia Dunham met him. And the reason he was so hard to find was that (in a Star Trek-ish twist) he was in a parallel universe, complete with a standing World Trade Center. For the first three of episodes of the second season Dunham has been back in her original universe, but hasn’t remembered where she was, until Thursday’s episode. Here is the official FOX description:

Recuperating from the traumatic and alarming meeting with Massive Dynamic founder William Bell (guest star Nimoy), Agent Dunham consumes a powerful "fringe" concoction that Dr. Bishop prescribes to stimulate her memory. Meanwhile, the Fringe Division investigates a series of robbery cases in New York, Boston and Chicago that are tied to shape-shifting. As clues are tracked and memories are jogged, another woman experimented on by Dr. Bishop is introduced and a flashback reveals more about Olivia’s alternate-reality encounter in the "Momentum Deferred" episode of FRINGE airing Thursday, Oct. 8 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (FR-204) (TV-14 L, V)

Photos:

VIDEO promo:

Interview Excerpts

Leonard Nimoy also participated in a conference call to promote the episode. Here are some highlights, courtesy of CinemaBlend:

on Fringe:

What intrigued him most about Bell was that the character was largely a blank slate. He and the producers had several intense discussions about how the character should be developed.

Tomorrow night’s episode will give a sense of what his relationship with Olivia is all about. “We go a long way tomorrow night in finding out what William Bell is all about.” When directly asked whether William Bell is good or evil, Nimoy simply replied, “Time will tell.”

So far the only Fringe regular he has worked with is Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham. He has one more episode he’s shooting in a few weeks, and any further appearances have yet to be confirmed.

on Star Trek:

Nimoy first met with J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci three years ago about joining the Trek relaunch. He looked on the opportunity as a “revalidation of the work I had done.”

He would be open to talking about appearing in the next Trek movie, but “I frankly doubt I will be called upon again.”

In a new radio interview with NPR, the original Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy, says that he feels that he done the job he was required to do for this year’s Star Trek movie, and he doesn’t expect to return for the sequel. We have the full audio and text excerpts from that interview below, plus a recent comment from Damon Lindelof, who is working of the story for the Star Trek sequel with Bob and Alex.

Nimoy: no need for me in Trek – The inclusion of Leonard Nimoy’s Spock in this year’s Star Trek was a clever way to tie the ‘prime timeline’ of Star Trek history to the new ‘JJ-verse’, but the actor was also an excellent endorser of the new team and film. However, Nimoy seems to now feel that his work is done for the new era of Trek, telling NPR:

I know why they wanted me in this last film, which was to create a bridge between the original cast and the new, but that’s been done. So I would suspect that there’s no need for my presence again.

Nimoy says that he would read a Trek script if they sent him one, but he doesn’t expect it. Although he will not say that he is finished with Trek, Nimoy has handed the baton to the new Spock Zachary Quinto, noting:

I’m proud of what he did in the film. I think it’s very good work. I think the character is in very good hands

Although he seems to be re-retiring from Star Trek, the actor is still popping out of retirement for JJ Abrams and his FOX show Fringe. He talks about that and his latest photography projects in the full audio interview below. (via NPR) .

Lindelof: Cool ideas for next Star Trek
Speaking of the next Star Trek movie, Damon Lindelof, who is working on the story with Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, gave a brief update a week ago to the website SciFiCrush, saying:

It’s in the preliminary stages. We’ve thrown around some cool ideas, but that’s it.

This comment is in line with recent comments from Abrams and Orci (here and here), making it appear that work on the screenplay for the Star Trek sequel wont begin until they finish with the story, and that is just starting to be discussed. According to early reports, the script for the second Star Trek was due around the end of the year. Since then Abrams and Paramount have also put Mission: Impossible: IV into development, with a script for that due also due around the end of the year. Both films have been reported to be in line for 2011 releases, but Paramount have yet to set dates for either.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/09/20/leonard-nimoy-does-not-expect-to-be-in-star-trek-sequel/feed/85Abrams & Saldana Give Star Trek Sequel Updateshttps://trekmovie.com/2009/09/15/abrams-saldana-give-star-trek-sequel-updates/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/09/15/abrams-saldana-give-star-trek-sequel-updates/#commentsTue, 15 Sep 2009 20:44:30 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=7423It has been a little while since we have heard anything on the sequel to the Star Trek movie, but in a new interview producer JJ Abrams gives a little update on the ‘cool’ progress of the film, plus Zoe Saldana reveals some of the new moves we may see Uhura do the next time around. Details and more below.

‘Cool’ Trek in the works…Greg Grunberg recast as Kirk?
Abrams latest comments come from an interview with SciFiWire from a FOX party last, here is an excerpt:

Where are you in talks for Star Trek 2?
Abrams: We’re hopefully going to have everyone, obviously, from the first cast. I keep trying to spread this rumor that I’m going to recast Kirk as Greg Grunberg, but no one ever prints it.

Have you settled on what direction you’re going to take it?
Abrams: We’re just starting on that. Yes, we know the direction, but it’s very early. We’re working on a script right now still. I can tell you it’s cool. We have some really cool ideas, but it’s too early.

So Orci and Kurtzman have physically started writing?Abrams: No, but we’ve started talking story, and Damon’s writing it with them.

Saldana wants Uhura kick where it hurtsZoe Saldana, Star Trek’s new Uhura, was interviewed by Cinematical, where she mostly talks about her role in the upcoming Avatar, but she did offer this tidbit on her hopes for the Star Trek: Something Something sequel:

In Star Trek, I had so much fun, but the boys got all the action! J.J. [Abrams] promised me that I’m going to — [that] in the sequel, she will have at least one little fight. I mean, just [let me] kick a guy in the groin or something!

Saldana wants to do more than just show off her legs in Trek sequel
(WireImage – BET Awards June 28)

Fringe DVD release + JJ and GatesIn other JJ Abrams (& Orci & Kurtzman) related news, the DVD and Blu-ray sets for the first season for Fringe were released this week. Fringe was created by Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman. Star Trek executive producer Bryan Burk is also an executive producer on Fringe. Orci, Kurtzman and Abrams all appear in the special features for the DVD, as well as doing commentaries.

Orci and Abrams posing with the cast of "Fringe" at DVD release party in Vancouver August 31st.

Fringe The Complete First Season is available now at Amazon on both DVD and Blu-ray.

One final bit of JJ Abrams news, the Star Trek director took some time out last week to hobnob with the VERY rich and famous. JJ attended the premiere of "Get Schooled: You Have the Right", a 30 minute TV special for kids put together by Viacom and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Here is JJ hanging with the big boss (Viacom chairman Phillippe Dauman, along with Bill and Melinda Gates.

JJ with Bill and Melinda Gates and Phillippe Dauman on Paramount lot September 8th

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/09/15/abrams-saldana-give-star-trek-sequel-updates/feed/58Sci-Fi TV Sunday: Fringe, FlashForward, Stargate, Caprica, Eureka, Venture Bros., Heroes, Smallville + morehttps://trekmovie.com/2009/08/23/sci-fi-tv-sunday-fringe-flashforward-stargate-carpica-eureka-venture-bros-heroes-smallville-more/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/08/23/sci-fi-tv-sunday-fringe-flashforward-stargate-carpica-eureka-venture-bros-heroes-smallville-more/#commentsMon, 24 Aug 2009 03:48:38 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=6975The genre TV news is coming in fast now that Fall season is coming soon. We have big updates with previews on what is next for Fringe, Smallville, Stargate Universe, Heroes, FlashForward, Caprica and more. Plus more video and images from upcoming epsidoes of your favorite shows, including Eureka, Venture Brothers and many more.

GENRE TV NEWS

Warehouse 13 Renewed for Season TwoSyfy has renewed its hit freshman drama "Warehouse 13" for a second season. The show continues to draw strong ratings for the network, especially among female viewers, a point which Syfy president David Howe was quick to note:

Unlike other Syfy series, “Warehouse 13″ has a near 50% female viewership and is performing better in its first season than the first season of “Battlestar Galactica,” which ended its four-season run in March.

Syfy only ordered 13 episodes of the second season, but as with past shows such as "Battlestar Galactica", that number may go up in subsequent seasons:

“We took a look at doing 20 episodes, but for logistic and financial reasons, it didn’t make sense to do that right now, but I wouldn’t rule it out,” Syfy president Dave Howe said.

The most recent episode of "Warehouse 13" drew 3.27 million total viewers. It’s averaging 3.7 million viewers a week (1.4 million within the A18-49 demographic) according to Live + 7 day numbers. Check out new episodes every Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m.

Clip from episode eight, "Duped"

Top Stories from Fringe’s "Over There"The season one DVD/Blu-ray set of "Fringe" will be released on September 8th, but some may not have seen the season finale yet, so here’s your spoiler warning…Alright, still with us? Good. During the TCA summer press tour, critics received newspaper copies from the "Fringe" alternate reality. Here are some details of what’s going on in "Over There" [E! Online]:

President John F. Kennedy is still alive and active in politics.

The powers that be can manipulate the weather.

The stock markets have been closed for 21 days and counting.

All four Beatles are all alive and heading out on a reunion tour.

New Orleans is hoping to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, leading us to believe the Crescent City was never hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Genetically engineered glow-in-the-dark pets are available for purchase.

Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy album was released in 2000!

Dwayne Johnson plays the Terminator in a stage version of the movie.

Former star Arnold Schwarzenegger is now a senator.

And in casting news, SpoilerTV has casting calls for episodes six ("Earthling") and seven ("Of Human Action") covering three characters, two of which may be recurring. "Fringe" premieres its second season with the episode "New Day", airing September 17, 2009 on Fox.

First Look at Brian Austin Green as Metallo in SmallvilleHere’s our first look at Brian Austin Green as the character Metallo. Green will appear in at least two episodes of "Smallville" this season as the Daily Planet reporter John Corben who becomes comic-book villain Metallo:

Executive producer Kelly Souders won’t reveal the identity of his Frankenstein-esque savoir, but says Corben is turned into “a rough version of Metallo, a first attempt at the technology, and eventually he’ll get sleeker.” So might we see him again? “Well of course—it’s Smallville,” she says with a laugh. “We’re actually throwing some ideas around right now in the hopes that we might be able to bring him back for another episode.”

Meanwhile comic book writer Geoff Johns, who returns this season to pen the as-yet-unscheduled episode "Society" which features the Justice Society of America, gave a brief quote to KryptonSite about what we’ll see in the episode: "The Justice Society will be heroes that come out of ‘retirement’ to see how the current generation operates. Can’t say much more than that right now. Sorry! :)" And lastly, check out casting slides for episode nine "Roulette" over at SpoilerTV.

The ninth season of "Smallville" debuts on The CW Friday, September 25th with season premiere "Savior".

Ming-Na Talks SGUMing-Na, the actress who plays Camile Wray on the upcoming Syfy series "SGU: Stargate Universe", talked about her character and the new series in an interview with IGN. Here are some excerpts.

IGN: It looks very different from the other Stargate series, with a grittier feel. Did you get the idea that was the intent?

Ming-Na: Absolutely. More in your face, where it just had elements of almost a reality show that everyone is so used to and the voyeuristic approach to showcasing an episode of almost anything these days. And what’s fun for us as actors is that because we don’t know where the cameras are half the time, we just pretty much have to play it like a theater piece and just be fully invested in it, each and every take.

IGN: What can you say about your character?

Ming-Na: I play Camile Wray. She’s an IOA officer – head of the human resource department. She’s very complex. She is a woman in a very male-dominated world of the military, as well as the diplomats that she works with. When she’s stranded on Destiny, along with everyone else, she has to sort of figure out who she is in that environment, and her ultimate goal is to still get these people back to Earth, when it seems like everyone else’s goal – the military and the scientists – is to continue to travel through the Galaxies.

Head on over to IGN to read the rest of the interview. "SGU: Stargate Universe" premieres on Syfy Friday, October 2nd. The show premieres in the UK on Sky 1 four days later on Tuesday, October 6th.

Awareness High for ABC’s FlashForwardAwareness studies from the ratings tracking company Nielsen show that ABC’s "FlashForward" had some of the best awareness among Adults 18-49, with Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily noting the show also had "strong intent-to-view sentiment among those aware" of the series. While the only other new sci-fi/genre show to get strong awareness was The CW’s "The Vampire Diaries", it’s important to note that shows premiering later in the season or being held till midseason (for instance "V" and "Day One") tend to have less awareness than Fall premieres. In other "FlashForward" news:

The Mosaic Collective, a new viral site connected to the series, has gone live and is tracking reports about what people saw six months in the future during their 2 minute and 17 second blackout (you can watch videos on the YouTube site as well).

Also, ABC has announced that the show will be previewed at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California which runs September 10-13th (the final season of "Lost" will also be discussed at the expo).

And SpoilerTV has a casting call looking for 12 characters, three of which are recurring.

"FlashForward" premieres Thursday, September 24th at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.

James Marsters and Comedian Patton Oswalt Join Caprica CastJames Marsters ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") is joining the cast of Syfy’s upcoming ‘BSG’ spinoff "Caprica" for a "sizeable arc" of a minimum of three episodes [EW]:

"Marsters will play a dangerous terrorist leader by the name of Barnabus Greeley in a minimum of three episodes. Driven by desires both moralistic and carnal, Barnabus is as lethal as he is unpredictable."

Also joining the cast will be comedian Patton Oswalt. Oswalt will guest-star as Baxter Sarno, "a popular Caprican comedian talk show host on whose show Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) and Amanda Graystone (Paula Malcomson) ultimately appear." "Caprica" is set to debut on Syfy Friday, January 22, 2010 at 9:00 p.m. with a two-hour premiere. The show will air Friday’s at 10:00 p.m.

"I could write you scene one of series four right now", Davies said. "I know exactly how to pick it up. I’ve got a shape in mind, and I’ve got stories. I know where you’d find Gwen and Rhys, and their baby, and Jack, and I know how you’d go forward with a new form of Torchwood."

Davies also re-iterated that he’s confident he’ll be able to match the quality of the well-received miniseries "Torchwood: Children of the Earth" regardless of how many episodes BBC asks for:

"If the BBC asked for another 13 one-part stories, that’s what we’d do", Davies goes on to explain to Torchwood Magazine. "I’m ready for anything, but I think it works well as one continuous story. But if the BBC decide they want 13 one-offs, I’ll suddenly decide that¹s the best format in the world!"

The full interview can be found in issue #17 of the magazine, out now in the UK and available in the US on September 15th.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Will Go Darker in Season TwoThe second season of Cartoon Network’s hit animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" will go a bit darker than the first, mainly by introducing new and familiar mercenaries:

"The second season is a bit darker," Dave Filoni, supervising director of Clone Wars, told Wired.com. "We have the rise of the bounty hunters entering the war — bringing in a lot of chaos and a whole new set of problems for Anakin and Obi-Wan."

Filoni also teased beyond the second season as well, including in regards to the eventual turn to the dark side for Anakin Skywalker:

"Anakin’s future is kept very much in mind,” said Filoni. "We’ll see signs of what’s inside of him this season. But right now, I think Clone Wars gives fans a chance to see the heroic side of Anakin — to see that he really is the chosen one that could save the galaxy."

Meanwhile James Arnold Taylor, the actor who voices Obi-Wan, has "seen some of the new episodes already completed, and they’re amazing,” Taylor said. “The action is there, and the humor is there. But we also see some new aspects of Obi-Wan and his past." And Catherine Taber, who voices the character Padmé Amidala, said that the second season will also examine the roots of her relationship with Obi-Wan:

"Padmé is a loyalist, not a pacifist,” Taber said. "She’s as involved in this war as Obi-Wan or her husband (Anakin). She’s very affected by everything going on around her. She obviously has a strong relationship with her greatest love. But the war involves her with Obi-Wan, too. Not in a romantic way, but there’s a strong bond there — partly because of their love for Anakin."

Head on over to Wired to read more thoughts from the cast and crew. The second season will premiere this fall on Cartoon Network.

Zachary Quinto on Heroes Season FourZachary Quinto (Sylar on "Heroes") teased the upcoming season in an interview with SCI FI Wire:

"The carnival is going to be awesome," he said. "It looks so incredible, and Robert Knepper, who plays Samuel, Ray Park, who plays Edgar, and Dawn Olivieri, who plays Lydia, … these are really, really incredible actors, and their characters are really multifaceted. It’s a whole new dimension for the show. I think it’s going to be incredibly exciting and really colorful and really dynamic. My involvement in it is unfolding as we speak. We’re about to start shooting episode seven, so we’ll see if I end up there or if I stay or what ends up happening to me, and I think it will be good. I think people are going to dig it. I know I am."

Quinto also revealed that there may be a new romantic interest for his character: "There are a couple of little percolations, but we’ll see if any of them take," and also addressed when his character will figure out the situation he’s in with Nathan Petrelli:

"It’s a long road for me to realize that," he said. "I’ll say that. It doesn’t happen right away. And the character exists in a couple of different places this season, one of which is in Matt Parkman’s [Greg Grunberg] imagination. The other one is in Nathan’s body. So it is a long road to getting right back to who we know him as."

Check out more from Quinto over at SCI FI Wire. In related news, SpoilerTV reports that the seventh episode of the season is called "Strange Attractors". "Heroes" season four — Volume 5: "Redemption" — debuts on NBC with a two-hour premiere ("Orientation" and "Jump, Push, Fall") on Monday, September 21st.

"V" stars Elizabeth Mitchell ("Lost") and Morena Baccarin ("Firefly", "Stargate SG-1") talk about their roles in the upcoming ABC remake in a new interview with IGN. "V" premieres Tuesday, November 3rd at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.

ABC has picked up the script to "Clive Barker’s Hotel" from writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton ("Saw"). McG’s Wonderland Sound and Vision banner is in talks to produce and McG may come on board as a director in the event the project moves forward. [THR]

BBC has announced that they will air a new series of "greatest moments" of "Doctor Who" focusing on events since the series was re-launched in 2005. The three-part series, "Doctor Who’s Greatest Moments", will be produced by the team behind "Doctor Who Confidential" and includes a voiceover by Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley.[Digital Spy]

Here’s the synopsis for "Apocalypse Now", the fifth season premiere of The CW’s "Supernatural": "Picking up where the finale left off, Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) watch as the Devil (guest star Mark Pellegrino, “Lost”) emerges from Hell. The brothers and Bobby (Jim Beaver) deal with the aftermath of Lucifer rising and the stunning news from Chuck the Prophet (guest star Rob Benedict) that Castiel (Misha Collins) was blown to bits by the archangels." [SpoilerTV]

ABC has picked up the rights to Audrey Niffenegger’s 2003 novel "The Time Traveler’s Wife" (which was recently released in theaters) and will adapt the novel to television. "Friends" creator Marta Kauffman will write and executive produce. The series has a pilot commitment from ABC. [The Wrap]

NBC has picked up a live-action adaptation of DC Comics’ Vertigo comic book series "Midnight Mass". The series has received a script commitment from the network. Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts will write the project for Warner Bros. TV. [THR]

AMC is close to finalizing a deal with Frank Darabont to write and direct a series adaptation of the Image Comics graphic novel series "The Walking Dead". [Variety]

Ryan McPartlin of "Chuck" (Devon "Awesome" Woodcomb) talked about his character’s role in the third season: "I don’t know if I’ll be made a spy, but I’m getting involved in the spy world. Chuck’s going to [be] in a pinch and call on me to help him out." [E! Online]

…Meanwhile, a casting call for the series is searching for a major guest star role for a character named Premier Allejandro Goya, described as a "Dashing, handsome, charming and suave. He is the ruler (dictator) of a small, fictitious Latin nation called Parador," in episode three "Chuck vs. the Angel of Death". [SpoilerTV]

A couple changes made in the transition from the "The Vampire Diaries" book series to its CW adaptation include Elena’s very young sister being replaced by a troubled teen brother and the fact that the siblings are returning to high school several months — as opposed to several years in the book — after the death of their parents. [E! Online]

Casting calls have gone out for ABC’s "Eastwick" series looking for three extras: a late 20’s/early 30’s clerk, a teenage boy and an elderly woman. [SpoilerTV (and here)]

John Hawkes ("Deadwood") is joining the final season of ABC’s "Lost" as a recurring character. Hawkes will play Lennon, described as a "scruffy, edgy and charismatic spokesperson and translator for the president of a foreign corporation who is far more powerful than it seems from his position." [THR]

Here’s the synopsis for episode seven ("Fear") of the ABC series "Defying Gravity": "It’s Halloween aboard the Antares and the forces of darkness are revealed in more ways than one, as feverish hallucinations jeopardize the lives of the crew just as they’re about to embark on a promotional event for which the whole world is waiting." [SpoilerTV]

"Supernatural" producers are looking for an "all-American boy age 11 who is wise beyond his years. He was adopted as an infant and remains perplexed by his unusual powers. He possesses a childlike innocence—he believes in the Tooth Fairy! He suddenly finds himself faced with a very adult decision." [EW]

…Check out another casting call for "Supernatural", for episode six "I Believe the Children Are Our Future", at SpoilerTV…

…And here are some more casting calls for various sci-fi/genre shows: Ghost Whisperer and V.

Josh Blacker has landed a role on ABC’s "V". It’s suspected that he’ll be playing the character Billy Hamlet and he may appear in more than one episode. [Josh Blacker via SpoilerTV]

Jennifer Love Hewitt has chimed in on the possibility of a "Ghost Whisperer"/"Medium" crossover episode: "Everyone’s been speculating, and I’m up for it if it’s handled the right way," Love said. "Melinda and Allison handle things very differently. Allison focuses on crime and Melinda deals with crimes of the heart, so maybe Allison could do a little detective work and then Melinda could sweep them into the light…"

…However, "Medium" executive producer Glenn Gordon Caron doesn’t like the idea: "I’m a big Jennifer Love Hewitt fan, but our show is based on the life of a real woman. There really is this Allison Dubois who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. While Ghost Whisperer is inspired by the life of James Van Praagh, Jennifer doesn’t actually play him. I’m very uneasy with the idea of mixing and matching fiction with non-fiction, so I think it’s very unlikely." [TV Guide Magazine]

A&E Home Video have unveiled the complete list of extras for their upcoming Complete Series DVD release of Farscape. The DVD art is included below. Head on over to TV Shows on DVD for full details. The set will be released on November 17th.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/08/23/sci-fi-tv-sunday-fringe-flashforward-stargate-carpica-eureka-venture-bros-heroes-smallville-more/feed/36Sci-Fi TV Saturday: V, Lost, Fringe, FlashForward, Heroes, SGU + morehttps://trekmovie.com/2009/08/15/sci-fi-tv-saturday-v-lost-fringe-flashforward-heroes-sgu-more/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/08/15/sci-fi-tv-saturday-v-lost-fringe-flashforward-heroes-sgu-more/#commentsSun, 16 Aug 2009 00:54:50 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=6806During VegasCon weekend, we took a break from our weekly genre news wrap-up articles, but we are back with a whole slew. In genre TV news this week, we have a big update on V, including a debut date, Details on the debut season of FlashFoward, Fringe Season 2, the Lost finale and much more, including the post-Bryan Fuller Heroes fallout. So dive in below.

GENRE TV NEWS

ABC Sets November Debut Date for VABC has announced that their upcoming reboot of Kenneth Johnson’s 80’s miniseries "V" will premiere Tuesday, November 3rd at 8:00pm. Meanwhile executive producer Scott Peters confirmed that producers have spoken with Jane Badler, who played the evil alien leader Diana in the original series, about possibly playing a role in the series: "Jane Badler has approached our producers and has been in touch here and there," Peters said. Peters added that Badler is just one of the original cast members that producers are considering putting into the new show as a homage to the original:

"And I haven’t had a chance to actually sit down or talk to anybody face to face, but I would love to," Peters said. "And as we move forward in the writers’ room, … we’re just getting up on our … feet. We start shooting Monday [Aug. 10], and so once we sort of get that first one under our belts, I think we’ll be able to take a bit of a sigh of relief and really sort of look a little bit more broad stroke, a little bit more big picture. … I don’t want somebody to just walk by in the background and then feature them for a second. … I want to find a really interesting role for somebody."

Executive producer Jeffrey Bell also discussed how the new show will pay homage to the original series with references to the Visitors’ rat-eating diet and how he hopes viewers will be hooked in with a multi-season story arc and a heavy focus on details:

“On Lost or Battlestar or any other awesome shows out there,” Bell said, “people are live-blogging and die-hard fans are freezing frames and TiVo-ing and finding Easter eggs to see what happened. It’s our job to build that into V for those people but to also keep the story simple. It’s a show about spaceships.”

And lastly, head on over to SpoilerTV to check out a casting call for episode two.

Lost Season Premiere Title Revealed: "LA X"The title for the two-hour sixth season premiere of "Lost" has been revealed to be "LA X". In other news, Elizabeth Mitchell confirmed that her character Juliet will appear in the upcoming season and she also discussed the events of the season five finale:

"It did seem that I kaboomed myself with the bomb," Mitchell said. "I like that word, anyway. I don’t think it’s going to be that way. I am going to be traveling to Hawaii more than once, so we’ll see how that plays out, because my [V] producers have said it’s all right, so that’s good."

"Yes, I will actually be back on Lost," she said. "I can’t say whether I’m dead or not, but as in all things in Lost, it’ll be fairly tricky."

Mitchell estimates she’ll be in about 15-20% of the season and although she knows exactly what’ll happen with her character, she’s sworn to secrecy and can’t reveal anything. She was willing, however, to tease a bit about her character’s ending, which she believes fans will find satisfying:

Mitchell: "I think that it will be for the most part a good thing to watch, I think it’ll be really fun for people to see. And there will be some…I don’t know you know that thing where you kinda sigh a little bit because there’s a bit of a resolution? We will have that which is good."

Bittersweet resolution?

Mitchell: "I think there might even be something that makes us smile a little bit. But that would be down the road."

Rounding out the week’s "Lost" updates, head on over to SCI FI Wire to read Jorge Garcia’s thoughts on the upcoming end of the show and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko) tells Entertainment Weekly that he would like to return to the island. "Lost" returns to ABC in early 2010.

Producers Talk Fringe Season TwoSpoilers follow. Last season’s finale of "Fringe" introduced a parallel universe, which the producers say they’ve named "Over There". That’s the only alternate dimension that the show will explore this season:"We have decided that, though science acknowledges a multiverse [many alternate realities], we are only going to deal with two," executive producer Jeff Pinkner said. The producers say that while the majority of the season will take place in the normal world, what’s happening in "Over There" will impact what’s happening over here:

"Thematically, the other universe exists [as] a foil to what might have been different in this universe," Orci said in the press conference. "In this other place, Kennedy lived. It’s more wish fulfillment and riffing on our world than ‘We have to follow the rules of two universes.’"

Interestingly enough, the parallel universe was actually intended to be held off on until the third season, but they were confident in the fan reaction to push up its reveal by a season:

"We never intended to reveal the parallel universe until season three," Kurtzman said during the press conference. "It became very clear they were open and ready for more, so it felt like, why stall it? Let’s throw down this challenge to ourselves where we have to come up with a way to take the stories even further."

"That is going to be a continuing storyline throughout the season. It should thrill. Nobody ever really disappears, and they could come back at any time. There is a parallel universe. Maybe [Charlie] will show up [there]. I think a lot of the answers you’re looking for will be clear in [episodes] two and three and four. You’ll really enjoy it."

Rounding out the week’s news, here’s an excerpt from IESB’s interview with writers/producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman:

IESB: "How involved will you guys be this season, and what will J.J. Abrams’ involvement be?"

Orci: "We’re divvying it up, so that we’ll oversee one, J.J. will oversee one and we’re all together, once or twice a month, planning what the next big steps are. Then, we have an amazing staff that divvies up the episodes. We get together on the phone and improve the stories, so we’re all in there. Jeff and Joel are the ones who are physically on site, handling all the horrible things that we’re protected from, in addition to doing what we’re doing. But, we’re all in there creatively."

Head on over to IESB to read the complete interview, which also delves into the duos other projects including "Star Trek 2" and "Cowboys and Aliens" on the film side. And lastly, check out a casting call for episode six, "Earthling", over at SpoilerTV. "Fringe" premieres its second season on September 17th on Fox.

David Goyer Talks FlashForwardBy the end of the first season of "FlashForward" "most of the questions in the pilot will be answered," says executive producer David Goyer. The most doesn’t apply to the "overarching cause of why the blackout happened" which he says won’t be revealed until the end of the series. Also noteworthy from the TCA summer press tour panel were some new details on the show’s timeline, especially in relation to the April 29, 2010 date (the date the flash forward is linked to): "The significance of that date is one of the mysteries of the show," says executive producer Marc Guggenheim. "And what’s going to happen after April 29 is another mystery of the show." Because the show is only loosely based on Sawyer’s novel, it allowed them to use different characters, setting and time frame, and although they did carry over one character from the novel ( Lloyd Simcoe played by Jack Davenport) the book won’t provide many details about the show’s version of Simcoe:

"He’s a version of that character," Goyer said. "The book obviously jumps 21 years in the future and concerns a group of particle physicists at CERN. We thought if we led with that, it’s a group of wacky particle physicists at CERN. We met with Robert Sawyer, who completely grasped that in order to make a TV show, we took the premise, truncated it and provided more points of entry. Robert liked it, and he’s going to write an episode for us the first season."

If the show gets a full season pickup, Goyer says he expects to end up directing about five episodes and write about seven or eight episodes overall. Gabrielle Union, who plays Demetri’s (John Cho) fiancée, will be seen five or six times in the first 13 episodes in "a pretty interesting story arc," says Goyer. Gabrielle Union talks about her role in an interview with SCI FI Wire. "FlashForward" premieres on September 24th on ABC. Check out the promotional press bundle ABC sent out over at SpoilerTV.

Trailer/Promo: "It’s a Mad World" (with behind-the-scenes footage)

Short promo

Interview with David Goyer from Comic-Con

SGU Webisodes In the Works + Updates on the SG-1 and Atlantis MoviesThe first season of "SGU: Stargate Universe" will be accompanied by 30 webisodes that will be made available on a weekly basis either on Syfy.com or Stargate.MGM.com. Co-creator Brad Wright told TheStar that the episodes will tie directly into the series via a flying camera ball called the Kino [via GateWorld]:

"It’s flying around and spying on people," he says. "They are literally just voyeuristic scenes we’re shooting specifically for the web." Wright says he has an entire production unit dedicated to the task. "It’s an extra way to get a window on our program and gives fans a slice of life look at our ship."

Meanwhile star Lou Diamond Phillips reassured fans that the series will be a faithful addition to the "Stargate" franchise — with the Stargate remaining at the center of the show — while at the same time noting that it’ll also be doing some new things:

"I think audiences today are looking for something that’s a little more grounded, so to speak, even when you’re doing sci-fi," Phillips said. "It’s grittier. It’s darker. It’s very much character-driven. It’s about the dynamics between very real people in an extraordinary situation and not so much about heroes and villains, you know? And also not as much about the hardware anymore. I mean, certainly it has created its own world, it has its own mythology, but it’s about how these everyday human beings—be they military, scientific or political—fit into this scenario."

"We’re ready to go. We’re just waiting for the right opportunity," he said. "We want to be successful with it. The studio wants to be successful, and we really don’t want to proceed with something in the wrong climate, which I think financially it is right now."

If the movies were to get made, Cooper says that they would not affect ‘SGU’ in any way:

"They would stand alone," Cooper said. "The Atlantis one takes place shortly after the end of season five. The SG-1, I think, takes place sometime in an intermediary period between when the SG-1 movies left off and when Universe began."

Here are some bites to round out the week’s "Stargate" coverage:

Check out episode titles for the show’s first 19 episodes of the season. [GateWorld]

In addition to making a cameo appearance in the series premiere "Air", Michael Shanks ("Stargate SG-1") will also make an appearance in the episode "Human", which is currently slated to be the 14th episode of the series. [Joseph Mallozzi]

Lionsgate is releasing a special 15th anniversary Blu-ray edition of the original "Stargate" movie on October 27th, a day before the anniversary of the 1994 film’s theatrical release. The Blu-ray includes "four hours of mind-blowing special features including three new featurettes, a never-before-seen gag reel, an interactive trivia track and more". [DVD Active]

A casting call for ‘SGU’ is looking for a "strong guest lead" to play Eleanor Perry, a 35-40 year-old character described as "a brilliant scientist who happens to be a quadriplegic"… [SpoilerTV]

…That particular casting call has created a bit of a controversy in regards to Ming Na’s character Camille Wray, causing Syfy and the show’s producers to respond. Details at AfterElton. [via io9]

Behind-the-scenes interviews with creators and cast

Chuck Could Run Through Summer 2010About three or four scripts for "Chuck", which begins airing its 13-episode season this March, have already been submitted into NBC and president of prime time entertainment Angela Bromstad revealed that a decision on upping the show to a full season won’t be made until the episodes begin airing. Bromstad also said something that has been mentioned in the past, that the show could run through the summer if it gets picked up for a full season:

"We’ve got three or four scripts in already, so it is something that we can move around, but right now it’s not scheduled to come on until March. It’s only got a 13-episode pickup. We have talked about ‘Is Chuck something that we allow to run over into the summer and be part of our summer programming?’ Those are just discussions that we’re going to continue to have. Right now it’s due to come on midseason."

"There’s going to be love and romance, but a little bit of heartbreak, maybe some rejection, some guns and some action," adding: "We’re going to discover how the mechanism works inside Chuck’s head. We’re going to see just how good it is."

Lastly, one character won’t be back next season [highlight to view]: "I got killed. I got shot right in the heart. Dead," says Chevy Chase. And SpoilerTV has a casting call for episode two, "Chuck versus the Three Words", looking for a "powerful, brick of a man," aged 30-45.

What Does Bryan Fuller’s Second Exit from Heroes Mean?NBC president of prime time, Angela Bromstad downplayed the exit of former "Heroes" producer Bryan Fuller, although she was quick to credit Fuller for bringing the show back on track creatively:

"It doesn’t mean anything [for the show] one way or the other," Bromstad said. "He’s no longer in the writers’ room, and the show is doing exceptionally well creatively. Bryan came back to be in the writers’ room initially and helped [them] get back on track. He was there from the start and on the original writing staff. So I think he was there in the beginning to get them back on track and [help] everybody sort of decide where they’re going creatively. Our deal with Bryan now is in development. We’re looking forward to his development."

Digging into the upcoming season, new cast addition Robert Knepper (Samuel) — who was recently upped to a series regular — talked about his role in an interview with SCI FI Wire:

"I think he wants to rule the world," Knepper said. "He sort of comes off as a guy who really cares about his own family, but I think we’re going to find something. He seems to be drawing everybody in, all the heroes that we love, kind of a web. One by one he’ll pull these guys in, and I think we’ll find out a little bit more about them, and in the process discover what Samuel’s motives really are."

Knepper says that he’s already worked with Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) and Zachary Quinto (Sylar). Here’s what Knepper had to say about his encounter with Sylar:

"This episode, he’s not in his right mind, so he doesn’t know quite who he is," Knepper said. "So he’s like, ‘Who are you? OK, I’m open to change.’ It’s one of those great things about writing, when the audience knows you to be the villain and then you suddenly have amnesia and you have no idea who you are. It’s one of those little things."

Here are some bites to round out the rest of the week’s coverage:

Ernie Hudson is joining the cast next season in a recurring role. Full details are being kept under wraps, but his character, Baltimore detective Captain Lubbock, will be on the hunt for one or more of the other characters on the show. [THR]

Two more episode titles have been revealed. Episode six is called "Tabula Rasa" and episode seven is called "Strange Attractors". [HeroSite]

NBC has released their official write-up for the fourth season. Check it out at HeroSite.

Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman) tweeted the following message on his Twitter account: "I just read the craziest s–t in a new script of Heroes EVER! What?! No we di’n’t! WOW!" Michael Ausiello followed up with Grunberg at the TCA summer press tour: “It involves a cockroach,” he elaborated. “And it was incredible.” [EW]

Check out a comprehensive rundown of some of the questions that the finale left us with over at E! Online.

Hayden Panettiere (Claire) talks about the direction her character takes next season in an interview with SCI FI Wire.

"Certainly the big worm coming out of the asteroid is a big comedy moment for us," MacFarlane said. "The snow battle is kind of a nightmare, but we put enough jokes in there to sustain it. Visually, we have to duplicate so much of what went on in the movie, and [for] 1980, it was still so visually complex, and we had to match that. It was very difficult, to say nothing of trying to insert a joke every 15 seconds or so."

MacFarlane said that the episode "is almost done" and will "be ready for the holidays." MacFarlane will then be following it up with a spoof on ‘Return of the Jedi’ titled "We Have a Bad Feeling About This" and he says he’d be interested in tapping other popular genre classics in the future:

"If we could do some of the Star Trek movies, that would be great," MacFarlane said. "If we could do the Indiana Jones movies, that would be great. There are other things to be done. It’s just a question of whether other companies will be as enlightened as Lucas."

Boldly Going Nowhere Pilot Being Reworked with more Sci-FiAs we’ve reported on in the past, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day have been developing a sci-fi comedy series for Fox titled "Boldly Going Nowhere" about the day-to-day interactions of a crew on a spaceship. The show was looking headed for a series pick-up, with a pilot being shot, but the group felt like the show needed some work and have gone back to the scripting stage. The good news is that they plan to add even more Sci-Fi elements:

"We’re working with Larry Charles right now on a rewrite," Howerton said. "We’re adding more sci-fi elements into it right now, more aliens, just a little bit more sci-fi."

"…because we just realized it was more fun to embrace the sci-fi rather than fight against it," Howerton said. "In some ways, the first time around we were fighting against it, and I think we fought too hard. It ended up being just not as much fun as it could be. I think we realized that in an attempt to not parody sci-fi, we ended up almost cutting out too much of the sci-fi. I think that was a mistake."

Even still, Howerton concedes that the show may never hit TV screens:

"It’s tough to say whether this thing will ever see the light of day," Howerton said. "It’s a pet project of ours. It’s something that we care about and that we’re working on, but I’m not going to lie, it’s tough. It’s a tough nut to crack, so we’ll see. Next time we see each other [at January’s Television Critics Association tour] I’ll have more to report. Actually, we definitely will."

Sci-Fi TV on DVD Sales Update: BSG Debuts in Fourth Place (#1 Among TV Shows)
"Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5" opened its first week on the US DVD Sales Chart with an estimated 173,579 units sold, generating $5.53 million in total sales revenue. The show edged out the straight-to-DVD movie "Green Lantern: First Flight" (#5: 158,238/$2.59 million) and was well ahead of Fox’s "Dollhouse – Season One" which only managed to sell 62,226 units for $1.83 million in total sales revenue (#11 overall, #2 in Television). This compares favorably to Season 4.0 (4.5 sold more units, but generated less revenue), which debuted in its first week with 166,478 units sold and had total sales revenue of $6.18 million:

(#4) "Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5" — 173,579 ($5,528,491)

(#6) "Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.0" — 166,478 ($6,182,993)

Rounding out the rest of the Sci-Fi TV on DVD sales, "True Blood: The Complete First Season" continues its impressive sales run, placing 21st overall with an additional 44,127 units sold. Through 11 weeks on the chart, the show has sold 1,220,896 units and generated $42.30 million in total sales revenue. "Torchwood: Children of Earth" debuted in 24th place (#4 in TV) with 41,542 units sold ($601,944) and "Robot Chicken – Star Wars Episode II" added another 34,992 units/$476,941 pushing its two-week total to 116,105 units/$1.54 million.

2009 Hugo Award WinnersThe 2009 Hugo Awards took place this past Sunday, with Neil Gaiman’s "The Graveyard Book" winning best novel, Wall-E winning best dramatic presentation, long form and "Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog" winning best dramatic presentation, short form. The full list of winner’s follows below, courtesy the official site:

Jamie Ray Newman, who plays the recurring character Tess Fontana on Syfy’s "Eureka", also plays one of the witches on ABC’s upcoming series "Eastwick" but the actress anticipates she’ll be able to play both roles: "They start up in March, I think, so hopefully we’ll get to play the whole season [of Eastwick], and on hiatus I’d love to come back [to Eureka]." [SCI FI Wire]

Although Syfy’s upcoming limited series "Alice" (December, 2009) will differ dramatically from Lewis Carroll’s "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland", writer/director Nick Willing says that the series will remain consistent in tone: "It’s got to be funny," Willing said. "The original is very funny. It’s still very fresh. It’s got to be full of surprises. It’s got to have a very, very strong visual flair. These are all touchstones that drove me when I was developing the show." [SCI FI Wire]

Adam West will portray the voice of Batman’s father, Thomas Wayne, in an upcoming episode of Cartoon Network’s "Batman: Brave and the Bold". The episode’s story will be about Batman finding out that his father wore teh costume before him. Catwoman Julie Newmar will also appear in the episode as Martha Wayne.[Collider]

The sixth episode of "Defying Gravity" is called "Bacon". Here’s the synopsis: "Some crew members struggle with guilt; a serious accident puts a crew member’s life in danger." The episode airs on August 30th. [SpoilerTV]

Paris Hilton will guest star on The CW’s "Supernatural" as "a demonic creature" that takes the form of…wait for it…Paris Hilton. Here’s how executive producer Sera Gamble details the role: "If you know our style, you know we go pretty funny and irreverent with this stuff, so–expect that. The fact that she wanted to do the episode speaks volumes about her sense of humor. She’s flat-out awesome for playing along. You’ll see." [E! Online and Chicago Tribune]

Meanwhile, The CW president Ostroff says she hopes "Supernatural" will stay on the air "for a while" and would like to see "Smallville" continue on past next season as well: “I hope it’s not the last season…I think the producers have come up with some really good storylines this season. I think the show has a lot of life left in it. We have high hopes for it staying on the air for a while”… [EW]

…Staying with "Smallville", as teased in the Comic-Con trailer, Lois and Clark will have sex next season: “It’s more than just sex,” says executive producer Brian Peterson. “They’re making love. Clark would never [just have sex]”… [EW]

…And in casting news, many are suspecting that the fifth episode, titled "Idol", will feature the Wonder Twins of "Superfriends" fame. David Gallagher will play the role Tanner (code for Zan) while Allison Scagliotti will play Twyla (suspected to be Jayna). [KryptonSite]

Although it only appears on the DVD/Blu-ray, the un-aired "Dollhouse" episode Epitaph One" will be the driving force behind the upcoming second season… [SCI FI Wire]

Speaking of "Dollhouse", Fox executives say that won’t meddle with the development of the upcoming season and allow Joss Whedon to craft the show the way he sees fit. [SCI FI Wire]

…In casting news, Michael Hogan ("Battlestar Galactica") will have a guest role on the second episode of the show next season playing a customer of the Dollhouse who has used the services of the dolls in the past. The episode is called "Belle Chose" and was written by Tim Minear… [Chicago Tribune]

…While episode four will be called "Belonging". Also, check out casting calls for both episodes three and four. [SpoilerTV and SpoilerTV]

Rapper Mike Skinner tweeted, and then deleted, a message on his Twitter account that he will be appearing next season in "Doctor Who".[Digital Spy]

"Torchwood" star John Barrowman has revealed that he’s in negotiations for a role on ABC’s "Desperate Housewives". It’s unclear what this means for the future of Barrowman appearing in future episodes of "Torchwood".[Digital Spy]

Luciana Carro is signed on for at least five episodes of "Caprica". [battlestar_blog]

Kevin Williamson, executive producer of the upcoming CW series "The Vampire Diaries", calls the series "more of a small-town show", adding: "Once you get past the premise of girl and vampire, we start to develop the story of a town. That’s what we loved so much about the books, the mythology of the town, … this evil, this darkness, that lies underneath this town and how this vampire comes to town and stirs it all up."… [SCI FI Wire]

…Staying with "The Vampire Diaries", the show’s first three episode titles have been revealed: "Pilot", "Night of the Comet" and "Friday Night Bites"… [SpoilerTV]

While clarifying what type of series "Day One" will be: "It’s an alien invasion. Not just a disaster. It’s an alien invasion," NBC President of Prime Time Entertainment Angela Bromstad says that the network has yet to determine how many episodes they’ll order: "We’re still determining that," Bromstad said. "We’re getting scripts in next week. We have three additional scripts coming in, so we’re still talking to [series creator] Jesse [Alexander] about what our programming needs are and creative needs." [SCI FI Wire]

President of CBS Entertainment Nina Tassler told reporters at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that a "Medium"/"Ghost Whisperer" crossover episode is a possibility now that both shows share the same network, and night: "It’s never too soon [to consider]," Tassler said. "Their mythologies are different, and we haven’t talked about a crossover, but it’s possible. I think right now the shows have a different language. They have a different skill set, different rules, etc., but once we get the show launched and comfortable in its time period, we could certainly talk about it."… [SCI FI Wire]

…For her part, "Medium" star Patricia Arquette said that she is open to the possibility: "If I read something, and it was done really well, then yeah." [SCI FI Wire]

In an upcoming episode of Syfy’s "Warehouse 13" we’ll meet a group of nine, Supreme Court-like people, who make decisions about the warehouse called the Regents.[E! Online]

"Eastwick" executive producer Maggie Friedman concedes that the upcoming ABC series "will have winks to both the book and the movie"… [EW]

…And check out a casting call for five characters for episode three, one of which could be a recurring character at SpoilerTV.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/08/15/sci-fi-tv-saturday-v-lost-fringe-flashforward-heroes-sgu-more/feed/55Trekkies Guide To San Diego Comic Con 2009https://trekmovie.com/2009/07/22/trekkies-guide-to-san-diego-comic-con-2009/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/07/22/trekkies-guide-to-san-diego-comic-con-2009/#commentsWed, 22 Jul 2009 20:51:40 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=6030This weekend (kicking off with a preview tonight) is the annual San Diego Comic Con. Although there are no major Star Trek panels, Trek will still have a big presence at the show from the Paramount Home Entertainment Booth, to the other licensees (including some selling exclusives). There are also Trek celebrities showing up at booths and panels. We have all the details below.

Paramount Home Entertainment Booth Celebrates Star Trek
The biggest Trek presence will be at the Paramount Home Entertainment Booth (#3535), which is promoting the upcoming releases of the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as many catalog releases (Star Trek Season 2 on Blu-ray, TNG Movies Collection & more). There will be a Diamond Select life-sized Star Trek TOS captain’s chair on display, which will be given away during the show. Paramount is also giving out Star Trek foam Vulcan-salute hands and tribbles — being handed out by Orion ‘green girls’.

Star Trek licensses & merchandisersMany of the Star Trek licensees and merchandisers have booths on the show floor and many will have exclusive items for sale or be debuting or showing off future items.

Panels – Trek relatedThere are no official Star Trek panels this year, but there is one panel discussing the "Anthropology of Star Trek" and one of Star Trek’s licensees (IDW) has a panel that will discuss future titles, that could include Trek. There is also a panel discussion arranged by Mark Altman (Free Enterprise) covering of the films of 1979, including TMP, that will probably also cover the new Star Trek movie.

Thursday 6:30-7:30 The Anthropology of Star Trek
Daryl Frazetti (Department of Anthropology, Lake Tahoe Community College), Ian Morris (UCSB student), John Stivers, Jacob Hurd, and Kanan Miller (Lake Tahoe Community College students) discuss the anthropological themes in the Star Trek universe. Select themes include such topics as politics, religion, identity, technology, the cultural role of the individual, and the anthropological concept of "race." A brief discussion on the subculture of fandom is also included, along with the cultural impact of Trek. Audience participation is encouraged. This presentation spans the franchise and explores the relationship between Star Trek and society throughout the past four decades. Room 30AB

Thursday 11:00-12:00 IDW Publishing: The Evolution of Comics
Through the lens of IDW’s tenth anniversary, founder Ted Adams and IDW editors and creators, including Ashley Wood (Zombies vs. Robots), and Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), discuss the evolution of the company and look ahead at the future of comics, complete with special announcements of upcoming IDW projects. Room 10.

Sunday 1:00-2:00
It Was 30 Years Ago Today: The Kicks and Kitsch of the Year Sci-Fi Struck Back (or: It Was No 1982)Go back to the thrilling days of yesteryear as the disco era said its final good-byes and the bad hair of the ’80s prepared to make its emergence. A group of professional geeksters guides your look back at some of 1979’s crowning achievements, kitsch, and crap. Join them as they beam aboard Star Trek: The Motion Picture as the human adventure just begins (and possibly give their three cents on the new Trek movie as well), go bidi-bidi-bidi over Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, get sucked into The Black Hole, rip on Jack the Ripper in Time After Time, make Moonraker eyes over Lois Chiles, and listen fruitlessly for screaming in space in Alien. Starring Jeff Bond (Geek Monthly editor), Robert Meyer Burnett (Free Enterprise, The Hills Run Red), Steve Melching (The Clone Wars), Dr. Theopolis, and some special guests and exclusive video treats. Moderated by Mark A. Altman (Free Enterprise, DOA: Dead Or Alive). Room 4

Panels – Trek vetsA number of Trek vets from in front and behind the camera will be at Comic Con for panels related to other stuff. Here is the breakdown.

1:15-2:15 Entertainment Weekly: Wonder Women: Female Power Icons in Pop CultureEW moderates a conversation with Sigourney Weaver (Avatar), Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), and Zoe Saldana (Avatar) about the actresses who have redefined the rules, and the female characters that have shattered the glass ceiling for all women. Basically, a discussion with women who kick ass. Ballroom 20.

4:45-5:45 Legend of the Seeker
A sneak peek at the highly anticipated second season of the action-adventure series Legend of the Seeker from executive producers Ken Biller (Star Trek: Voyager), Sam Raimi (Spider-Man), Rob Tapert (Xena), Ned Nalle (Hercules), and Josh Donen (Drag Me to Hell) and starring Craig Horner, Bridget Regan and Bruce Spence. Inspired by Terry Goodkind’s bestselling epic fantasy series The Sword of Truth, Richard, Kahlan and Zedd will soon discover that after defeating Darken Rahl, they inadvertently opened a rift into the underworld. Premiering in November, join a few of the executive producers, cast members, and Terry Goodkind for this moderated interview and audience Q&A session! Room 6DE

FRIDAY JULY 24

11:45-12:45 Caprica/Battlestar Galactica: The Plan The present meets the past as the makers of Battlestar Galactica deliver the highly anticipated Syfy original series, Caprica and the 2-hour event, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, directed by Edward James Olmos. This is your chance to get the inside scoop on these exciting projects and see two generations of Adamas on stage together for the first time. Executive producers Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, and Jane Espenson sit down with Caprica star Esai Morales (Joseph Adama) and Battlestar Galactica’s Edward James Olmos (Admiral William Adama), director of The Plan, to reveal the truth about these two new chapters in the mythology of BSG. Ballroom 20

11:45-12:45 FlashForward
Be among the first to see exclusive, never-before-seen footage and scenes from upcoming episodes of ABC’s new show FlashForward presented by David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), Brannon Braga (24), and Marc Guggenheim (Eli Stone). Joining them on the panel are cast members including Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) and John Cho (Star Trek). And look for a surprise guest that you won’t want to miss! Room 6A

2:00-3:00 The Design Process for Film and Television
The making of a film or television show is a collaborative process. The director enlists the talents of his/her key collaborators—the costume designer, the production illustrator, and the production designer—right from the start of a production. Costume illustrators and concept & storyboard artists, brought on to productions to develop images under the guidance of the designers, serve a key position in the web of communication that is essential to filmmaking. This panel gives a glimpse into the fundamental importance of illustration, as well as the seamless creativity between the key conceptual departments on favorite feature films and television productions. Moderator William David Hogan, director and storyboard artist (The Orphan), hosts costume illustrators from CDG, Local 892: Robin Richesson (Iron Man), Phillip Boutte, Jr. (Jonah Hex), Felipe Sanchez (Green Hornet), Christian Cordella (GI Joe), and Brain Valenzuela (Star Trek 2009), as well as illustrators and artists from
Local 800: Dawn Brown (Star Trek 2009), Josh Nizzi (Transformers Revenge of the Fallen), and James Rothwell (Iron Man 2). Room 32AB

4:30-5:30 Production Designers
Today, more than ever, motion pictures and television routinely transport us to worlds that beggar the imagination, which must be designed and created from scratch. A multitude of skilled artists is necessary to accomplish such spectacles filled with such endless detail. The person who initially collaborates with the director to conceive the world of the film—and then lays out the plan, assembles the team, supervises that multitude, and tries to bring it all in on budget—is the Production Designer. Here’s a chance for the Comic-Con audience to hear some of Hollywood’s finest designers discuss the unique nature of their craft and even answer a few questions. This year’s extraordinary panel includes Stuart Blatt (Dollhouse), Scott Chambliss (Star Trek), Rick Heinrichs (Pirates of the Caribbean), and Bo Welch (Batman Returns). Moderating the panel is John Muto (Terminator 2—3D). Room 30AB

SATURDAY JULY 25

3:15-4:15 Heroes: Exclusive First Look at "Redemption" and Q&A with Tim Kring and CastmembersFasten your seatbelts and get ready for an amazing roller coaster ride as Heroes debuts a trailer for "Volume 5: Redemption." Participate in a Q&A session with creator Tim Kring and some of the cast (including Zachary Quinto). Indigo Ballroom / Hilton Bayfront

3:30-4:30 The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
In the sequel to the cult classic The Boondock Saints, Director Troy Duffy brings back Sean Patrick Flanery (Suicide Kings, Powder), Norman Reedus (American Gangster, Blade 2), and Billy Connolly (The Last Samurai) and introduces Clifton Collins JR (Star Trek, Crank 2) as a new partner in crime and Julie Benz (Rambo, Punisher 2, Saw) as the sexy F.B.I. operative who is hot on their trail. Please join Troy and the cast for a panel discussion about the new film and the world premiere of the trailer. Room 6DE

4:00-5:00 Fringe Screening and Q&A
Fringe cast members Anna Torv (upcoming The Pacific), Josh Jackson (Shutter), and John Noble (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) appear with consulting producers Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) and executive producers Jeff Pinkner (Lost) and J. H. Wyman (Keen Eddie) for a Q&A with fans and an exclusive video presentation. Join the discussion of this critically acclaimed thriller, which explores the ever-blurring line between science fiction and reality, where hybrid monsters tear through sewers, thieves walk through walls and portals open to worlds unknown. From Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, Fringe airs Thursdays at 9:00 PM ET/PT this fall on FOX, premiering September 17. Fringe: The Complete First Season will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Hi Def September 8. Ballroom 20

5:30-6:30 Archaia: New Titles
Come hear about the great titles Archaia has in store, including Awakening (with writer Nick Tapalansky and artist Alex Eckman-Lawn), The Killer (with writer Matz), and The God Machine (with creator Chandra Free). Then: You’ve watched him for three seasons on NBC’s Heroes playing Sylar and on the big screen as Spock in the new Star Trek movie, but what do actor Zachary Quinto and his colleagues at media production company Before the Door Pictures have to do with Archaia? Find out exclusively at this panel, which will feature Quinto, Corey Moosa and Neal Dodson of Before the Door Pictures, plus appearances by top-secret special guests with additional announcements! Room 5AB

6:30-7:30 Bridging Cultures Through Popular Media
While movies, games, and comic books are a great source of entertainment, the transformational power of story can also be used to break down misunderstandings between cultures, races, and genders. Learn how the panelists are using popular forms of media to provide a new form of diplomatic dialogue and open up channels of communication that have yet to be fully explored. Actor Faran Tahir (Star Trek, Iron Man), game designer Neal Hallford (Betrayal at Krondor, Dungeon Siege, X-Life: Driven), animated series executive producer Subniv Babuta (The 99), and comics and animated series script editor Stan Berkowitz (The 99, Justice League, Batman Beyond) talk about how popular culture can play a key role in saving the world. Moderated by Joseph D. Di Lella. Room 4

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/07/22/trekkies-guide-to-san-diego-comic-con-2009/feed/31Star Trek TOS Nominated For TCA Heritage Award + Lost, Fringe & BSG Nominated For Awardshttps://trekmovie.com/2009/06/07/star-trek-tos-nominated-for-tca-heritage-award-lost-fringe-bsg-nominated-for-awards/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/06/07/star-trek-tos-nominated-for-tca-heritage-award-lost-fringe-bsg-nominated-for-awards/#commentsSun, 07 Jun 2009 19:48:42 +0000https://trekmovie.com/?p=4325The new Star Trek is just starting to pick up awards, but the original Star Trek isn’t done yet. The nominees for the 25th annual Television Critics Awards have been announced and the original series Star Trek was nominated for the ‘Heritage Award’. In addition some shows from Trek veterans are also nominated for TCA awards.

Star Trek nominated for Heritage Award
According to the TCA, the Heritage Award "recognizes a long-standing program that made a lasting cultural or social impact.” Although the TCA awards have been going for 25 years, the Heritage Award has only been given out in the last seven years. The previous winners are: “The Simpsons”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “60 Minutes”, “Nightline”, “The West Wing”, “The Sopranos”, and “The Wire”. Besides "Star Trek", this year’s nominees are “ER”, “M*A*S*H”, “Saturday Night Live”, and “The Shield”.

Trek vet shows also nominated
The TCA also nominated two shows from members of the new Star Trek ‘Supreme Court.’ "Fringe" (created by JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) was nominated for Outstanding New Program of the Year. Also "Lost" (created by Abrams and Damon Lindelof) is nominated for Program of the Year, as is "Battlestar Galactica", co-created by TNG era Trek vet Ron Moore.

The Awards are selected by the association’s 200-plus member critics and journalists. The winners will be announced August 1st at The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa in Pasadena, California. Chelsea Handler, host of E!’s “Chelsea Lately,” will open the ceremony.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/06/07/star-trek-tos-nominated-for-tca-heritage-award-lost-fringe-bsg-nominated-for-awards/feed/24EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Leonard Nimoyhttps://trekmovie.com/2009/05/04/exclusive-interview-with-leonard-nimoy/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/05/04/exclusive-interview-with-leonard-nimoy/#commentsMon, 04 May 2009 22:37:17 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2009/05/04/exclusive-interview-with-leonard-nimoy/Since Comic Con 2007 one of the greatest sources of comfort for Trek fans was knowing that Leonard Nimoy had decided to come out of retirement for this new Star Trek. In a new exclusive interview with TrekMovie we talk to the original Spock about returning to the role, fan concerns about canon, Shatner, Fringe, Quinto’s Spock and much more. [interview contains SPOILERS]

TrekMovie interview with Leonard Nimoy

For my interview with Leonard Nimoy, it started off with him asking me a question…

Leonard Nimoy: You saw the movie, did you have some thoughts about it?

TrekMovie.com: Quite a few.

Nimoy: Good ones?

TrekMovie: [sarcastic] It’s OK

Nimoy: [laughs]

TrekMovie: You probably didn’t read my 4000 word review, but I did effuse over the film. …Maybe you you agree with this. The thought I came away with is that this feels like 1982 again to me. It feels like when Nick [Meyer] and Harve [Bennett] came in and said "let’s shake things up."… They kind of created a new bedrock, a look and tone, that flowed through a series of films. You changed things up in the second one, but certainly that series in the 80s was more based on the 82 film [Wrath of Khan], than on the 79 film [The Motion Picture].

Nimoy: I think that’s fair…the second Star Trek movie put the franchise back on track. The first one derailed us, it didn’t do us any good. Perhaps some people made some money. The second one put us back on track and what happened, unintentionally, we didn’t realize that we were at the beginning of a trilogy. That the three films, II, III and IV, told a story that had and arc to day and they hung together in an interesting way. III was obligatory, we had to get Spock back and IV was the completion of that cycle. After that, the films became somewhat of ‘toss something in the air and see what happens.’ And were not so grounded in continuity. But I think this film — I am not saying it is going to start a trilogy — but I think it is doing just exactly what you are describing. It creates a whole new way of looking at Star Trek. A fresh revitalizing of the franchise.

Nimoy thinks that "Star Trek" will put the franchise back on track, just like "Wrath of Khan"

TrekMovie: In a sense your character is an embodiment of the single timeline from "The Cage" through to episode you did on The Next Generation ["Unification"]. And they tie into that in this film, with you left on Romulus and all that. But you go back and what they have done is this kind of alternative timeline. What do you think of this notion of going back, but also kind of creating this open-ended new Star Trek future?

Nimoy: Well the alternative timeline gives them license to escape from canon concerns. I can’t see people saying ‘they shouldn’t do that because…’ or ‘that doesn’t tie in to such and such’ because it is a different time and place. Am I right about that?

TrekMovie: There is a strange irony with some fans. What you say is of course true and that is what Bob [Orci] and Alex [Kurtzman] would say. And in a way, by doing this, they preserve everything you guys ever did, because they are not changing any of that. If they had however said this movie takes place during the events of say "Balance of Terror" but everything looked different, then you could go ‘that is a total violation’ but what they are saying is, ‘no we are over here’ [on another timeline]. Some Trek fans appreciate that, but others would like to see something set right in there and try to get it close. But they are a smaller group of fans, but there are concerns over…

Nimoy: How small is that group?

TrekMovie: I would say 15% [number based on polls indicating the ‘purist’ element of fandom here at TrekMovie]

Nimoy: I don’t want to speak for JJ [Abrams] and Bob and Alex, they are certainly capable of speaking for themselves. There is no way in the world that a Star Trek film will please every Star Trek follower or fan, no way. And to try to would be a death sentence, you just can’t. You twist yourself into pretzels over ‘what are they going to say about this’…for god’s sake what are people going to say about Uhura and Spock having the relationship they have in this movie? What? I thought it was wonderful and touching and effective. I saw JJ quoted very recently on fan complaints of the kind you are referring to and what he said was something like "stay home and be angry" so just don’t see the movie, if that is what your life is about and that is the way you want to envision your relationship to Star Trek and the world, fine. This is a movie. It is a movie! You want to go see it — chances are you are going to enjoy yourself if you open your mind to it. If you go to see it to find fault and to point out the things you think are inconsistencies, chances are you won’t have a good time and you would have wasted your time and money so why bother? But if you go to it with an open mind, I think chances are very very good you will see very well made and interesting movie. The characters are all accessible. I think they are all well portrayed by very talented and intelligent actors. I’m impressed with every single one of them. I was shocked to see Winona Ryder so effective as Spock’s mother — I didn’t think it would work, I couldn’t envision her in the role. This really works — that wonderful scene between see and Zachary when he semi-apologizes for negating his human side and asks that she not take it as an insult, is so wonderful. They are both wonderful. I can’t see any reason to worry anymore about the people who are going to say this isn’t right. I am not worried about it.

Nimoy’s message to Trek fans — "have an open mind"

TrekMovie:I think most people aren’t worried now, but two years ago there were legitimate reasons to be asking questions…You, yourself, didn’t immediately come on board until after reading the script.

Nimoy: Yes, of course. And then there is the whole Shatner thing, and "if he is not in the movie it is not Star Trek and I wont see it, etc, etc."…OK, OK, it’s over. It’s all done, it is behind us.

TrekMovie: Speaking of Bill, you guys just had a nice get together [at the charity Horse show], what was that like?

Nimoy: We always have a lot of fun together, we finish each other’s sentences. We are like brothers, we are brothers. I consider Bill a very very close friend of mine and he feels the same way. We always enjoy each other. We get together for dinners every once in a while and I admire Bill. I admire his energy. I admire what he has done with his career. And there is nothing negative in our relationship.

TrekMovie: It seems like Chris [Pine] had a good time and hopefully we can put all that Bill vs. JJ nonsense behind us, because I don’t think it was ever as serious as people thought it was.

Nimoy: No. I think they were both playing it, frankly. I know Bill likes to play the press.

TrekMovie: I think some of this just doesn’t play well in print. Like back in 2007 in at the Trek convention in Vegas, you may have been there, when on stage Bill called JJ an a–hole. It is hard to convey his sense of humor when you just read it.

Nimoy: I wasn’t there for that so I can’t comment. Bill says JJ never offered him a role, JJ says he did, I am not passing judgment, it’s over.

TrekMovie: Well there is always the sequel. In our last interview you said you were open to it and I think recently you said it…

Nimoy: Never say never

TrekMovie: But you used to say ‘never’

Nimoy: Yeah, yeah, I know…I am older and wiser.

TrekMovie: In fact you have already said ‘yes’ to JJ…

Nimoy: I said I would take his call…oh for Fringe, yes. We shot the first piece and I will do a couple of episodes [next year]. It was very brief. Olivia walks into a room, doesn’t know where she is, looks around and she is in a strange place. I come in. She says "where am I and who are you?" and I answer, very very briefly and I introduce myself as William Bell and that is pretty much what the scene is about.

Nimoy in Fringe finale (airing next week)

TrekMovie: Didn’t Bill try hard to get you onto Boston Legal?

Nimoy: He asked me if I would do it and I said no…I said no because I thought it was ‘stunty’ and I didn’t want to do a stunt thing. Same thing with Heroes. They asked me to do a role in Heroes as well and I said no.

TrekMovie: To play Sylar’s father?

Nimoy: I guess so, yeah.

TrekMovie: In one of our first interviews you had talked about seeing Mission Impossible III, right after Comic-Con…in talking about Mission you noted that modern films are much more complex these days. So in looking at this film, at the plot and the time travel, and how it is spanning over many years, how do you feel about the complexity of this film?

Nimoy: In January I bumped into an acquaintance who said "how is the Star Trek movie?" and I said "I think it is great" and he said "did you direct it?" cause he really didn’t know, and I said "I wouldn’t know how." Which is true. The technology is so advanced over what we were doing when I was directing, I’d have to take a training course. I’d have to sit down with people and say "how do you do these shots?" I could learn how to do it, but going in I wouldn’t know how. It is extremely complex and sophisticated now. The budgets are multiples of what we had to work with originally, even in the movies, and light years over what we had on the series. It is a different world. And I have said this about JJ and I think this is the rock bottom core about what is going on here — there are some directors who can do that very very big canvas, like a Michael Bay for example, stuff that is big and bombastic. There are some directors who can do intimate, inter-character relationship moments. And not a lot of directors can do both, and I think JJ can. He has a sense of the action and the vision of the size and the scope of the thing, and he also gets down and in touch with the very very essence of what is going on with characters, and he does it extremely well.

TrekMovie: The scene you had with Zach [Quinto], did you say that was your first day on the job? That very emotional scene?

Nimoy: Yeah, that made it difficult. I hadn’t found my legs yet as an actor in the movie. I was OK. I don’t think it created a problem, but it took some focusing to get grounded in that scene. I think it worked out fine, I think the scene is very good. [laughs] but at the time I wish it came later in the schedule.

TrekMovie: In my viewing it seems to me that you have consciously evolved the character since the way you played him on The Next Generation. Was that flowing from the script or from yourself?

Nimoy: Both. I think the script suggested that Spock is further along in his life. And I think what I brought to it. I am further along in my life than the last time I played Spock. I am much more comfortable with what my life is all about and I think so is Spock. And I think he is able to talk to someone else about their life and offer some guidance and some philosophy.

Spock as we last saw him on TNG…

Spock (and Spock) in Nimoy’s first scene shot on new "Star Trek"

TrekMovie: There is so much talk about you and Zach and how you guys are like adopted father and son. He says he made the role his own, which is true…Once you mentioned that he did something that blew you away. I am curious now that I have seen the film, what was it that you went ‘oh that is really interesting’?

Nimoy: His relationship with Uhura, he played something that I was quite touched by. So did she for that matter. They both were terribly available for each other. I was really affected by his final moment with the Vulcan council when he rejected their invitation to go to the Vulcan Institute, and the way he said "live long and prosper."

TrekMovie: He almost said it as if there was a word that was supposed to come after, like "you bastards."

Nimoy: Or go f–k yourselves, to be specific

TrekMovie: but you were OK with that?

Nimoy: It caught me by surprise, but I thought it was terribly effective.

Nimoy is impressed with Quinto’s take on this pivotal scene

More TrekMovie Star Trek Interviews coming all week
This week is all interviews all the time at TrekMovie.com. We have exclusive interviews with most of the stars and JJ Abrams so keep tuning in, we will be posting a couple per day all week long. Next up, Zachary Quinto.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/05/04/exclusive-interview-with-leonard-nimoy/feed/145JJ Abrams Talks Working With Nimoy on Star Trek and Fringe at Paley Fest Fringe Eventhttps://trekmovie.com/2009/04/23/jj-abrams-talks-working-with-nimoy-on-star-trek-and-fringe-at-paley-fest-fringe-event/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/04/23/jj-abrams-talks-working-with-nimoy-on-star-trek-and-fringe-at-paley-fest-fringe-event/#commentsFri, 24 Apr 2009 05:28:38 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2009/04/23/jj-abrams-talks-working-with-nimoy-on-star-trek-and-fringe-at-paley-fest-fringe-event/Back home from his global tour promoting Star Trek, JJ Abrams came to the Paley Festival in LA tonight to talk about his TV show Fringe, and he brought along his fellow Star Trek/Fringe team of Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Bryan Burk, along with show stars Anna Torv, John Noble and Joshua Jackson. One of the subjects of the Q&A was Leonard Nimoy. [FRINGE spoilers below]

Abrams and Stars talk about Nimoy on FringeAs we reported earlier in the month, Leonard Nimoy will be appearing in the finale for Fringe "There’s More Than One of Everything" which airs May 12th. He will be playing William Bell, a mysterious character from Walter’s past who runs the even more mysterious Massive Dynamic Corporation.

During the panel, the moderator asked Abrams if casting Leonard Nimoy would ‘paint them into a corner’ because it would not be expected for Nimoy to become a show regular. Abrams didn’t agree, noting that they expected to have the veteran actor back next year. Here is a transcript of what Abrams had to say about bringing Nimoy onto Fringe and how it ties into Star Trek.

Abrams: First of all he hasn’t just signed up for one episode, I wont say how many. The thing about working with Mr. Nimoy on Star Trek is that it was an insane honor. In the first meeting with him we pitched him the story for Star Trek and he didn’t commit to the movie, but he was thoughtful about it. We were very lucky and working with him was intimidating and wonderful. And I tend to work with the same people again and again and again [Bob interjects ‘thank god1’] But honestly it didn’t even occur to me that we would get to work with him again…So we were thinking about who would play William Bell and then one day Bryan Burk emailed us and said "what about Leonard" and it was one of those moments — it was such an impossible dream that this legend would work wtih us on the show. I called him up and talked, he was interested, it was the same kind of thing as Star Trek, so we sent him the script and suddenly we were shooting the scene and we are honored
to have him. Not necessarily a regular, but part of the cast.

Fringe showrunner Jeff Pinker chimed in on Nimoy’s portrayal of Bell:

On top of which he does the role and he talked about and he does these things, and you are like "now I get it…now I get why he and Walter were lab partners." He does it in way that is kind of unexpected and you go "oh my god I know see why these two men simpatico", even though one went in an insane asylum and one went on to be one of the richest men in America.

The actors also chimed in. John Noble revealed that he did not have the chance to work with Nimoy in the finale, but was working forward to working with him next year. Anna Torv (Olivia) did reveal that she had a scene with Nimoy and she said she was "really nervous" meeting him.

Nimoy has already ‘appeared’ on Fringe
Leonad Nimoy is slated to appear in the finale, but in this week’s epsidoe "Bad Dreams" there was a small cameo from Nimoy, if you listened closely. At the end of the episode Walter watched a video and you can hear the voice of his former lab partner William Bell, which was clearly the voice of Leonard Nimoy. Here is a recap of the episode, skip to 3:43 to hear it.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/04/23/jj-abrams-talks-working-with-nimoy-on-star-trek-and-fringe-at-paley-fest-fringe-event/feed/28Leonard Nimoy To Appear On ‘Fringe’ [UPDATED: Orci Answers Fringe Questions]https://trekmovie.com/2009/04/08/leonard-nimoy-to-appear-on-jj-abrams-fringe-tv-series/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/04/08/leonard-nimoy-to-appear-on-jj-abrams-fringe-tv-series/#commentsWed, 08 Apr 2009 19:40:05 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2009/04/08/leonard-nimoy-to-appear-on-jj-abrams-fringe-tv-series/Leonard Nimoy is headed to another JJ Abrams production, this time on the small screen. EW is reporting that Nimoy will appear as what could be a recurring character on Fringe, the genre show created and produced by the same team who are bringing us the new Star Trek movie. This is big news for fans of Fringe and of Star Trek, and huge news for fans of both. [more below, including FRINGE spoilers]

Nimoy to play William Bell
According to the EW report, Nimoy will be playing the enigmatic William Bell, a character who has been discussed many times, but never seen on Fringe. Bell is the founder of the big creepy corporation Massive Dynamics and the former lab partner of Walter Bishop (played by John Noble). Although the report says that Nimoy has yet to sign, EW’s ‘insider’ says Nimoy will appear in the season finale in May.

As Bell is such a major character, it is possible this could become a recurring character. JJ Abrams brought Nimoy out of acting retirement for the new Star Trek movie and apparently the partnership worked out so well that Nimoy is ready to go back to TV too. Nimoy’s last television acting appearance was in 2001 on Becker. William Shatner had previously said he wanted to try to get Nimoy onto Boston Legal, but that never happened.

UPDATE: Orci Talks Nimoy and BellEOnline has a snap interview with Fringe co-creator Roberto Orci, talking about Nimoy and more, here are some excerpts:

On Fringe, is William Bell the answer to some of the questions we’ve been asking about the Bishops and Olivia?
Several answers will come outside of William Bell, and then William Bell will be the beginning of the answers to even bigger questions.

How do you see the relationship between Walter Bishop (John Noble) and William Bell (Leonard Nimoy)?We always imagine that they were two of the smartest guys in their classes, and they went through the Ivy League together. At that point in college, you’re discovering yourself, but these guys, the intelligent geniuses they are, they might come to conclusions about what’s important in this world. So we always imagine that they were very much like each other, very much friends, and very much a team—brothers in a way, and that life took them in different directions, either complementary or not directions, and we’re going to find out.

Way back last summer, we talked about how the Pattern could be about either saving the world or destroying it. Do Walter and William take those different approaches to the Pattern?That’s absolutely right. They have not only different approaches to the Pattern, but different interpretations of what the Pattern is. The Pattern is slightly in the eye of the beholder, you’re going to find out. And sometimes what you think is real can become real. In a way, these two are the top minds in the world attempting to figure out the Pattern and how to react to it, based on their world view.

With his company’s total wealth in excess of $50 billion, he is considered one of the wealthiest men in the world. Evidently he also possesses great technical knowledge and expertise; Nina Sharp says her fully functional robotic arm was built by Bell himself. Since Bell shared a laboratory with Walter Bishop, it is likely he also has an in-depth knowledge of Fringe Science. Walter himself states that Bell was the only other person who really knew what their experiments were about.

Since founding the company in 1992, William Bell has played a key role in every aspect of the business, from R&D to marketing. His personal vision continues to guide the firm’s progress, and his ongoing research constantly yields new innovations and product lines. A seven-time honoree in Business Leaders Journal’s list of "America’s Most Inspiring Corporate Leaders," Dr. Bell is also a Fellow of the National Scientific Progress Council and the only two-time recipient of the Macro Genius Award.

MORE FRINGE NEWS

"Fringe" returned last night with the episode "Inner Child". You can watch it or a recap at FOX.com.

Here is a promo for next week’s episode "Unleashed":

and did you spot the Observer in the audience of Amercian Idol last night? (neither did I since I dont watch Idol, but FringeTelevision has the clip)

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Talk FringeCo-creators (along with J.J. Abrams) Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman spoke to SCI FI Wire about the show, telling the site that the series will begin to answer many questions as the first season wraps: "We are about to shoot our final two episodes of the season," Orci said, saying that it’s really just a matter of how fast the answers are given:

"This is something we discussed very much with the network," Orci added. "Sometimes they want answers, and then we’ll actually write a show in which everything is answered, and they’re like, ‘No, that’s too fast!’ So how slowly to dole things out is always the key question. But we definitely have answers that we’re dying to give, and it’s a matter of how quickly we get to them."

Here are some highlights of the interview:

We’ll learn of William Bell’s connections to the major characters by the end of the season.

Orci on The Observer: "You’ll get a deeper context of what he’s part of".

There’s no rush to get Peter and Olivia together.

Head on over to SCI FI Wire to read the rest. Orci also revealed that the title of the season finale will be "There’s More Than One of Everything"

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/04/08/leonard-nimoy-to-appear-on-jj-abrams-fringe-tv-series/feed/80ST09 Tidbits: Grunberg Hints – Collins Backpedals – Jackson Pines + more pollshttps://trekmovie.com/2009/02/09/st09-tidbits-grungerg-hints-collins-backpedals-jackson-pines-more-polls/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/02/09/st09-tidbits-grungerg-hints-collins-backpedals-jackson-pines-more-polls/#commentsTue, 10 Feb 2009 04:47:56 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2009/02/09/st09-tidbits-grungerg-hints-collins-backpedals-jackson-pines-more-polls/We are now officially in the final three months, awaiting the release of the new Star Trek movie. Today TrekMovie catches up on a few new tidbits coming from the Internets on Trek’s next feature, including Greg Grunberg talking about if he is in or out, Clifton Collins dialing back spoilers, Joshua Jackson revealing what role he didn’t get, and yet even more online polls.

Grunberg IS inLike some kind of lucky charm, Greg Grunberg (aka Matt Parkman on Heroes) has worked his way into almost every one of his best friend JJ Abrams productions. However, due to scheduling conflicts he was not able to work on Star Trek, or at least not while principal photography was being completed in late 2007 and early 2008. But today while Abrams and Grungerg were shooting a PSA for the epilepsy foundation, TalkAboutIt.org, Greg tells E! that he has "something" in the new Star Trek movie, but that it is something "you’re going to have to find." Since this is something that appears to have been put in during post-production, we are going to bet it some kind of voice work for Greg…glad he worked his way in.

Listen closely for Greg

Collins: busted
Remember those Paramount guys that Simon Pegg joked followed him around to make sure he didn’t blab, well apparently the got to Clifton Collins. Back in the Summer of 2008, and before Paramount was opening the books in the new Star Trek movie, Clifton Collins (General Ayel, henchman to Eric Bana’s Nero), inadvertently became the first person officially associated with the film to confirm that Romulans were the bad guys in Star Trek…oops. Collins tells StarPulse that he got into some hot water, saying "I got into a lot of trouble last time talking." Even though the whole Romulan cat is out of the bag, Collins is now gun shy, only admitting he plays "somebody in outer space."

Collins seen exiting Paramount prison

Joshua Jackson: Loses Kirk – GF not happy
Before he was cast as the lead in JJ Abrams new TV show Fringe, Joshua Jackson had his eye on another Abrams role, Captain James T. Kirk. In a new interview with MTV the actor reveals he unsuccessfully auditioned for two Trek roles, including Kirk. Jackson doesn’t think he was that close to landing the big chair, but apparently the the loss caused some issues on the home front, admitting "the only audition my darling girlfriend has ever been upset with me for not getting the role is Captain Kirk.”

Jackson eying the Captain’s chair longingly

More Trek at the polls: #1 in USA, #4 in UK + ST09 Stock rallies
Reporting on Star Trek these days is starting to feel like election season. Last week we reported that the new commercial came in 2nd in three post-Super Bowl polls. This week the film is coming out on top in a ‘most anticipated movie poll’ at MSNBC, with a whopping 29%. The accompanying article on 2009 had an interesting synopsis of Trek which gives an insight in to how this film is being viewed in the mainstream (and how Trek fan opinion factors in):

…J.J. Abrams version of “Star Trek,” which promises to boldly go where several installments of the franchise have gone before. OK, this take on “Trek” does veer away from the others in that it shows Trekkies (or Trekkers, let’s not quibble) a glimpse of the younger, hotter days of the original cast of characters. But there’s bound to be a been-there-done-that feel, albeit minus the veteran stars everyone already knows and loves. Whether it succeeds comes down to the new actors ability to make the old characters their own, as well the filmmakers ability to stay true to a story some consider sacred. There’s already debate on the latter point, as would-be watchers busy themselves dissecting the trailer (“Did that kid just say his name is ‘James Siberius Kirk!? It’s Tiberius!”).

And there is yet another poll of 2009 movies at the UK & Ireland Yahoo Movies page, where Star Trek is coming in fourth behind Harry Potter, Wolverine, and Terminator. Although a good showing, there may be some selling to do across the pond.

Lastly, the Wall Street Journal has a report on a whole different kind of poll, how the various movie ‘stocks’ are doing at the Hollywood Stock Exchange. The HSX is an online game where shares of movies are traded with virtual currency and apparently Star Trek is the big winner after the Super Bowl…from the WSJ report:

‘Star Trek’ | Symbol: (TRK11) | Share price: H$162.51 | Gain: Up H$7

Anticipation for the coming reboot of the sci-fi franchise was already running high before new glimpses were revealed last Sunday. Traders liked what they saw, including a young Captain Kirk in a bar brawl, and gave "Star Trek" the biggest rally in share price of any Bowl-advertised film.

ST09 gets the SB bump

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/02/09/st09-tidbits-grungerg-hints-collins-backpedals-jackson-pines-more-polls/feed/62Fringe And Lost Back With New Episodes This Weekhttps://trekmovie.com/2009/01/20/fringe-and-lost-back-with-new-episodes-this-week/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/01/20/fringe-and-lost-back-with-new-episodes-this-week/#commentsTue, 20 Jan 2009 20:34:44 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2009/01/20/fringe-and-lost-back-with-new-episodes-this-week/The ‘Supreme Court’ team making the new Star Trek movie also put on a couple of our favorite TV shows here at TrekMovie, both coming back with new episodes this week. Fringe is returning from its winter hiatus, while Lost is back with the first episodes since last Spring. See below to get back up to speed on both shows.

Synopsis: A visit from Olivia’s sister (Ari Graynor) and a formal review of the Fringe Division coincide with the investigation of the murder of a famous scientist, which may have something to do with Olivia’s recent abduction.

Need to catch up on the show’s last 10 episodes? Check out this 5-minute recap:

Abrams: Fringe "has really found it voice"J.J. Abrams, co-creator of the Fox sci-fi drama "Fringe", told reporters that the series is just hitting its stride and the best is yet to come:

"I think that now more than ever, the show has really found its voice," Abrams said. "The episodes that are airing starting next week are the ones that for me are far and away the best episodes and what the show is. I feel like Fringe is a show about these crazy experiments, but in many ways Fringe is an experiment. I feel like we just found a way that the show works best. Those episodes are coming up next."

Those episodes, which return on January 20th, include a resolution to the arc of Olivia Dunham and John Scott, but Abrams warns to expect more questions along with the upcoming answers:

"There’s a great resolution that’s coming out in a few episodes, but it takes a lot of loose ends and gives closure to those," Abrams said. "Any show that is working will tell stories, resolve them; other stories will begin, and it’ll just kind of be this staggered thing. That’s where we are. So I really love the episode, and he’s fantastic in it. If you’re watching the show, it explains who he was, why he was doing what he did, why she’s been seeing him."

Abrams is particularly excited about the "slug gigantism" episode: "Wait until you see this next episode," he said. "If you’re a fan of gigantic slugs, don’t miss Fringe. That really should be the billboard."

"I already know ‘Fringe’ is a keeper," he says. "The show’s been a bear creatively because it’s been very ambitious. They’ve really found the storytelling model now … what you’re going to see in the second half in the year, if you follow the serialized story you will not be disappointed, yet the stories really do reset themselves each week. I would not expect it to take off after ‘Idol,’ but I do think it will tick up another level," he says.

Extended Episodes to Continue?Reilly was also asked if RemoteFreeTV, Fox’s experiment of using half as many commercials for shows like "Fringe" and "Dollhouse", would continue in the future:

If Fox has its way, yes…When asked if RemoteFree was a success, Reilly says, "For the most part, yes. Viewer feedback was great … advertisers were very happy … studies showed retention was high … but not every advertiser wants to pay that premium."

FRINGE BITES

Here are the titles of the next three episodes of the series: "No-Brainer" (1×12); "The Transformation" (1×13) and "Ability" (1×14). [SpoilerTV]

Each episode of "Fringe" contains a hidden Easter egg that foreshadows something that will happen in the next episode. Leading up to the premiere of the show tonight, Fringe Television has been posting videos of those clues.

The Observer was spotted at an NFL playoff game two Sunday’s ago. [The ODI]

Synopsis: The remaining island survivors start to feel the effects of the aftermath of moving the island, and Jack and Ben begin their quest to reunite the Oceanic 6 in order to return to the island with Locke’s body in an attempt to save their former fellow castaways.

Synopsis: Hurley and Sayid are on the run from the cops after stumbling into trouble at the safehouse; the island survivors come under attack by unknown forces; and an old friend offers some shocking advice to Kate in order to ensure that "the lie" remain a secret.

Mathew Fox: Lost Ending will be "very global and epic"As we head into the penultimate season of the show, star Mathew Fox tells Details Magazine that the show will have a "very global and epic ending":

All of us knew that if the show was strung out indefinitely, it was going to ruin the story. It’s not like a doctor drama, where you have a new case each week. This show started with a plane crash on an island in the South Pacific, and it’s going to have a very global and epic ending.

More on Time-Travel and Island History Planned for Season FiveHere are a couple bits from executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse who held a panel discussion with reporters on Friday [possible spoilers]:

"The show has been a time-travel show for the last four years," Lindelof said. The writers are just making it more apparent, he added: "We feel the audience is prepared to go on that journey with us."

"[We] hope to give the audience some greater sense of the island’s history," Cuse said. The [four-toed] statue was placed there initially to convey the idea that the island has a history and people have been there for a long time, he added. "Part of what this season will explore as you’ve seen as they’re skipping through time, … we’ll learn a lot more about what has happened on the island in the past," Cuse said.

The season will heavily feature the main character of Sawyer (Josh Holloway) "Sawyer has a lot to do this year," Cuse said…Lindelof said that last season, with its focus on the Oceanic Six, was necessarily light on Sawyer, and this season is meant in part to redress that.

Viewers will see more of Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), who is a series regular this year, though his character apparently perished last year when the freighter exploded. The producers wouldn’t say how and under what circumstances viewers will see Jin. The character of Claire may also be seen, but cast member Emilie de Ravin is not a regular this season.

Secondary Characters Are Safe; Ending WrittenProducer Damon Lindelof says that knowing the show’s end date — May, 2010 — has allowed they "to do a tremendous amount of pre-planning:

Nestor Carbonell, for example, who plays Richard Alpert, one of the leaders of the shadowy "Others," will be in the series for the foreseeable future…"The benefit of knowing the story ahead of time is that we can lock these actors down," Lindelof said, "and not find ourselves in a situation where we’re waiting for them to be available."

Lindelof also hinted that the ending to the show has been written:

"We got to a point, seven episodes into the third season, where the show reached the point where we all knew it was treading in an area of complete and utter suckiness," Lindelof said. "Is that even a word? I don’t know – but I do know we were in trouble.

"At that point, we had a decision to make. Are we going to have an end date, or is the show going to be cancelled in, like, a year or a year and a half? Basically, all these flash-forwards, all these idea we’re working with now, are part of the story’s end game.”

Will the question of Jacob’s identity/origin/power be addressed this year? Can we expect changes in the future if people make the right adjustments in the present? Those questions and more answered at USA Today.

Summary of all the known and confirmed info for season five — including episode titles — thus far (beware of spoilers). [SpoilerTV]

Looking towards next week, E! Online has a report of the TCA press tour screening of Ep. 3 – "Jughead".

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/01/20/fringe-and-lost-back-with-new-episodes-this-week/feed/52Abrams and Orci On Fan Reaction + Bob Meets Brannonhttps://trekmovie.com/2009/01/16/abrams-and-orci-on-fan-reaction/
https://trekmovie.com/2009/01/16/abrams-and-orci-on-fan-reaction/#commentsFri, 16 Jan 2009 18:01:52 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2009/01/16/abrams-and-orci-on-fan-reaction/We have another Abrams and Orci interview coming out of the Fox TCA event held earlier this week. Access Hollywood chatted to the pair about what it is like to work together on Fringe and Trek, how it felt for Trek to be completed (which Abrams confirmed), and their anticipation of fan reaction to Star Trek. See the video below (which includes an interesting Brannon Braga sighting).

Abrams and Orci on if they are anxious over fan reaction to Star Trek:

Orci: Yeah. You never want to be so overly confident to think "yeah they are going to blow it away." We are not smug, but pretty confident.

Abrams: I am not worried about fans of the show liking the movie. Fans of the show have seen it and had really great reactions, but I am as excited and nervous — kind of butterfies which I get about everything — I hope people like it. You work that long and hard on something and you don’t want it to be trashed [laughs].

Abrams on working with Nimoy:

Abrams:Leonard Nimoy is in there and is the greatest. He was amazing. It was the weirdest thing, I knew I was going to be working with Nimoy, but the first day…it was surreal to direct him as Spock, because what the hell am I doing there? This guy has been doing it for forty years. It’s like "I think Spock would…" [laughs]

Braga-Orci summit?
By the way if you watch closely at 2:05 you can see long-time Star Trek writer/producer (and screenwriter of two Trek feature films) Brannon Braga (who works on FOX’s 24) say "it was good to meet you" to new Star Trek screenwriter Bob Orci. So apparently they had a chance to meet for the first time and chat at this FOX event. Oh to be a fly on the wall for that meeting of the past and future of Trek.

Braga and Orci – what did they talk about?

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2009/01/16/abrams-and-orci-on-fan-reaction/feed/110Celebrate ‘Fringemas’https://trekmovie.com/2008/12/21/merry-fringemas/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/12/21/merry-fringemas/#commentsSun, 21 Dec 2008 17:35:08 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/12/21/merry-fringemas/It is been a while since we have done an update on Fringe, the new show from the Star Trek team of JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. The genre mystery series returns January 20th with new episodes, and if you want to get caught up, FOX has created a fun Walterific ‘Fringemas’ video recap of the first season so far, see below.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/12/21/merry-fringemas/feed/22Exclusive Interview: Roberto Orci On All The Latest With Star Trek (and more)https://trekmovie.com/2008/12/09/exclusive-interview-roberto-orci-on-all-the-latest-with-star-trek-and-more/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/12/09/exclusive-interview-roberto-orci-on-all-the-latest-with-star-trek-and-more/#commentsTue, 09 Dec 2008 22:22:29 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/12/09/exclusive-interview-roberto-orci-on-all-the-latest-with-star-trek-and-more/There has been a lot of big news regarding the new Star Trek movie over the last few weeks, so TrekMovie decided to check in with co-writer and exec producer Roberto Orci to get his take on recent events, including answering some of the questions and comments that are on fan’s minds. See below for part 1 of TrekMovie’s exclusive new interview with Orci. [minor spoilers]

TrekMovie: Last month was a pretty big month, starting with Entertainment Weekly and then the trailer and previews, how does it feel now to have so much out in the open after such a long period of secrecy?

Roberto Orci: Kind of awkward for me and Alex [Kurtzman], because we were so used to being secretive about it. Even though it was an official trailer we almost panicked, like ‘oh my god its out there now!’ We are like abused dogs who are now living in a nice home, we weren’t used to it.

TrekMovie: You were used to just giving your name and WGA serial number?

Roberto Orci: Exactly [laughs]. We were used to saying we had only seen four lights instead of three lights.

TrekMovie: Nice reference…A lot of what has happened in the last month seems to be geared towards getting the rest of the world aware of what the Trekkies and the geek world have known. What is the feeling now, amongst the ‘Supreme Court’, about how things have played out, in the mainstream media?

Roberto Orci: I think we are all very encouraged and grateful, that it seemed to get a pretty good reception. And people who didn’t know Star Trek really took note of it and it seemed to actually create just the right impression that this was going to be something fresh.

TrekMovie: As JJ [Abrams] has been going around, especially in foreign countries where Trek hasn’t played as well, he has been saying things that have got the notice of Star Trek fans. Things like "I’m not a Star Trek fan" and "this movie is not made for Star Trek fans" and that kind of stuff. Some Star Trek fans have reacted wondering if this movie really isn’t for us. Is that a fair criticism?

Roberto Orci: I can see how if you are a fan, you can go ‘uh oh.’ I think it is just reflecting, what he has said himself, that he didn’t think he was going to direct this movie, and when he says he wasn’t a fan, of course he was aware of Star Trek and had scene it and admired it, along with Twilight Zone and some of the other shows that he really likes. But I don’t think he ever imagined himself taking over a year of his life and devoting it to Star Trek and that is what he means. I think quotes reflect how much he surprised himself in how much he came to love it even more. And he went through that process without knowing it as well as all of us crazy fans, and from a much more general audience point of view, like everyone else. That is what he means by ‘not for the fans’, he thinks it is going to appeal to more than just the fans and I certainly don’t think he means to exclude them. Too many die-hards worked on this movie for it to not be for fans.

We can liken almost anything to something that happened on The Next Generation, because The Next Generation covered almost every story that there is. As fans – when JJ is out there saying things that prickled our pointy ears, we just think of him like Riker in the episode ["A Matter of Honor"] which he had to go be the first officer on board a Klingon ship in an exchange program. On that ship when someone talks back to you, you would have to beat them down or you lose the respect of your crew, which is protocol, whereas on a Federation ship that would be a crime. So we have to give JJ a little bit of leeway, when he is traveling the galaxy over there where they don’t know Trek, to say the things that need to be said in order to get people onto our side.

TrekMovie: Everything that has come out over the last month has answered a lot of questions, but also raised new ones. The first of which came up recently, related to Captain Robau, who was revealed on the new Intel site [boldlygo.intel.com]. Can you talk about who he is and what his background is, like his being from Cuba.

Roberto Orci: As you know, the [USS] Kelvin is named after, not only the same scientist with the temperature scale named after him, but also JJ’s grandfather. And the captain of that ship, Richard Robau, is named after my uncle, who was born in Cuba. One of the things we talked about early on, was where was Uhura born? Does Sulu have to be Japanese? And it occurred to us that, in the future, the borders that exist now won’t exist then. So you can be born somewhere, and raised somewhere else, and live somewhere else, and even sometimes off Earth. So I always imagined that Capt Robau was born in Cuba, but then grew up in the Middle-East.

Richard Robau (Faran Tahir)

TrekMovie: With regards to that Intel website. You and your team are providing the content for that website?

Roberto Orci: Yes.

TrekMovie: So should we consider that website canon? For example, all that you just described is not actually in the movie correct?

Roberto Orci: Right. I guess until it is in a movie or a show, technically right, isn’t that correct? I would have to check with the rest of the Supreme Court, but I would think that anything that is considered a promotional website is not canon.

TrekMovie: Well the bigger issue is more [Star Trek movie prequel comic] "Star Trek: Countdown" and whether or not that is considered canon. That is not a promotional thing, that is a…. thing thing. Your name, JJ’s name is on it and Alex’s name is on it. So canon or not canon?

Roberto Orci: I don’t think that is for me to decide. As you know I considered some of the books, in my mind, to be of character canon. And some of them in between the movies to possibly be even possible candidates for canon, until some other movie comes along and makes those impossible. That is my personal view, but I am not going to declare whether comics are canon.

TrekMovie: There is a difference between a regular comic and a comic with your guys names on it. To extend the canon metaphor, you are like a writer of the gospels, so does it apply when you are writing other stuff, like comics? Who makes that decision?

Roberto Orci: I don’t know, I think it will be a majority vote.

TrekMovie: Well I can run poll, but I was looking for something more official. Trek fans like rules and I think would like to be told, yes it is or no it isn’t as opposed to leaving it up to themselves, because then it is actually ‘fanon’ and not ‘canon.’

Roberto Orci: Why don’t we say for now, that this current court has not taken up that case and it can yet rule.

TrekMovie: Speaking of "Countdown", does the series take place before or after Star Trek Nemesis?

Roberto Orci: After.

TrekMovie: On the Enterprise being built in Iowa — It is amazing that in January after the first trailer, where the ship was being built was the hottest topic. It seem after the second trailer, it still is the hottest topic. Are you surprised this is such a big deal to fans?

Roberto Orci: No, not at all. From the minute we pulled that fan photo of the Enterprise being built in a ship yard – we showed that to JJ as a way to get him excited and to show him how grounded Star Trek could be, literally [laughs]. And he really locked onto that image. We showed with the caveat that if we went down that road, there would be some strong fan reaction, but that we thought we could justify it, but we knew if from second one.

TrekMovie: And do you have any internal reasoning why the ship is being built in Riverside Iowa instead of San Francisco.

Roberto Orci: Yes.

Fan image (left) inspired ‘grounded’ Enterprise construction

TrekMovie: Is the cop in the trailer a robot or a guy in the mask?

Roberto Orci: In my mind, there is a person under there. But there is nothing in the movie that says one way or another. But in reading some of Roddenberry’s thoughts and dissertations about Star Trek, there was always a hesitance to deny the human spirit and deny the human side of it. There is a small part of me that thinks an android cop would be against Roddenberry’s instincts. However, Mr. Data is clearly a central canon figure, so you can argue it either way. I don’t think there is anything in the movie that commits it one way or the other. It is in the eye of the beholder.

TrekMovie: Regarding the alien security officer on the Kelvin, Alnschloss K’Bentayr, is that character in any way related to Arex from The Animated Series?

Roberto Orci: Not in our minds, but possibly in the designer’s. You would have to ask the designer.

TrekMovie: Is the character make-up and puppetry, or CGI?

Roberto Orci: A little bit of both, mostly make-up and puppetry. That particular alien was actually was sitting on the set. JJ wanted to as much real stuff as possible, which is not typical for this type of movie in this day and age.

TrekMovie: This brings up one of the more ironic critiques. You guys finally have the budget and resources to create truly alien aliens. Some fans think we should not see any new aliens that we did not see in The Original Series, and some even think that it is Star Trek tradition to do latex-on-forehead aliens and that Trek aliens should be anthropomorphic. That having Star Wars kinds of aliens, breaks with Trek tradition.

Roberto Orci: For the first question, I use the same argument that some use to justify Khan recognition of Chekov [in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan], which is: if you just went to a lower deck in that first season, you might have seen Chekov. So the idea that can’t see a new alien by merely turning the camera some other way on a ship that you might have seen before – I think it is fair to see a new alien. As for the second point, we actually had this conversation where one of the fun alien aliens we read about, I think it was in "Prime Directive," was this octopus creature, that was clearly not anthropomorphic at all. We talked about doing something like that, some stranger creatures, and I think we pushed it a little bit. I don’t think any of them go too far off the realm, but that was something on our minds. I don’t think there has to be a tradition of keeping them anthropomorphic, but I don’t think we strayed too far from that.

Alnschloss K’Bentayr of the USS Kelvin

TrekMovie: In my four scene preview review, I noted that we see four scenes with Kirk on an arc, kind of like going from ‘Jerk to Kirk.’ But we only saw two scenes with Spock. Both of which he was in his ‘not holding it together’ mode. This is a function of what we saw, but I hope that is not all we get for Spock. Can you settle my mind on that? Will we be seeing serene and logical Spock as well?

Roberto Orci: I can settle you mind very easily, absolutely. It is both of their movie…There was some worry early on that it was going to be too Spock-centric and we would totally ignore Kirk, as you pointed out we have four Spocks! There is not going to be any dearth of Spock, nor any dearth of classic Spock. Clearly some of the things you are going to see in the trailer are some of the more extreme moments in the movie. Moments that have to be earned by the story, and you are right to be concerned if they are not earned by the story, but plenty of Spock.

TrekMovie: So are you guys being proactively provocative? Like how you got on the cover of the Drudge Report, with the headline "Spock Goes Wild!" Was that kind of the plan, to pick the crazy Spock moments so people will go ‘hey this is different’?

Roberto Orci: I don’t think we anticipated it would go to that degree. We don’t assume that a general audience is going to find that particularly proactive or inconsistent, but apparently, as you pointed out, there are a lot more closet Trekkers out there. So I think there is an element of that. There is an element of wanting to make you feel something that you that you didn’t expect. Seeing a different side of it and not exactly being able to peg it, like ‘oh I didn’t think this was going to be a sci-fi movie, it starts with a Corvette’ or with the ship being built on the ground. It is grounded it to today and to us. So certainly in a trailer you want to pick some of the more proactive moments.

TrekMovie: JJ and yourself and others have talked about how this Star Trek was going to be ‘real.’ And JJ keeps bringing up Galaxy Quest and saying ‘we are not doing a parody’ and ‘we are not doing Galaxy Quest, this is going to be real.’ So I was expecting, when I went to the preview, that I was going to see something in the style of the recent Batman and Bond franchises and how they have done their ‘refreshes.’ A very serious take on Star Trek. So I was a bit surprised, and I wasn’t the only reviewer to note this, that there was so much humor, including slapstick humor. Do you feel that you are running the risk, when your goal is to be serious, that with so much humor the film may be perceived as parody?

Roberto Orci: I don’t think it will be perceived as parody, I am not worried about that at all. I think there is a difference between the word ‘real’ and ‘serious.’ I think it can feel real in a way it has never felt before, and have the humor still be consistent with that. Humor was always a part of Star Trek, and so we had to make sure it was represented somehow. But I don’t think real and serious are the same thing.

TrekMovie: Is the humor part of an appeal to a larger audience and possibly a younger audience?

Roberto Orci: I don’t think so. The humor in it is trying to be character-specific. We are not trying to do what we accused of doing on Transformers, by some of the hardcore fans. And the humor does not go to those places. I think the humor is much more based on who the characters are.

TrekMovie: Kirk never pees on anyone?

Roberto Orci: That is correct. [laughs]

Star Trek humor, character-specific

TrekMovie: Switching gears…Fringe wrapped up the first half of the season. Things tended towards more mythology and serialization towards the last few episodes, is that where the show is headed or was it just the last few episodes?

Roberto Orci: We are still trying the exact right balance. We have extreme mythology episodes and there are some that are going to be stand-alone. I think for the fact that were were going down for a while, we wanted to give people are reason to come back.

TrekMovie: The last episode had a Star Wars reference, but there haven’t been any Trek references, are you going to drop any Trek in there?

Roberto Orci: I think is our duty to, don’t you think?

TrekMovie: I would imagine so. Is the Enterprise being built by Massive Dynamics?

Roberto Orci: [laughs] Well after Massive Dynamics is taken over by the state in the semi-utopian communist 23rd century, maybe some of its R&D went into it.

TrekMovie: You guys got pretty Star Trek in the last episode ["Safe"], with an actual transporter, which can apparently also do time travel. The show has been about ‘fringe’ science, but that is pretty serious science fiction. Is that an anomaly or are you going to go deeper into heavy sci-fi?

Roberto Orci: You know, one step forward, two steps back. We are finding it.

Fringe adds transporter to its ‘fringe science’

TrekMovie: With all the talk about the Superman franchise, have they come to you and Alex yet?

Roberto Orci: Superman the sequel? No.

TrekMovie: Do you know if your brother-in-law is going to be in it? [Editor’s note: Brandon Routh is married to Bob’s sister]

Roberto Orci: I would imagine so. How are you going to find a better Superman?

TrekMovie: What are you working on now besides Fringe?

Roberto Orci: We are writing Cowboys and Aliens with Damon Lindelof. We got a great draft from Fergus and Ostby, who wrote Iron Man, and now we are into the second draft and trying to put it together.

TrekMovie: Speaking for Damon, so are you guys ever going to write an episode for Lost? I am surprised after working with JJ and Damon that you haven’t got around to that.

Roberto Orci: Who has time?

TrekMovie: JJ has been talking a little bit about sequels to Star Trek. You previously said that Paramount wanted to lock you down for that. So have they locked the lock yet?

Roberto Orci: No we are still talking about it. It is so hard to talk about it before you even finish the first movie. We consider it bad luck to get locked down before finish everything on your plate.

TrekMovie: But could you imagine going into development on that before the film is released in May?

Roberto Orci: Sure. Absolutely we could imagine that.

TrekMovie: Speaking of the Star Trek film being finished. How close to finished is it? Isn’t mid December the target to finish it?

Roberto Orci: We are still in the sound mix. That is still the target, but we may go over a bit to get the sound down together. The sound is really hard on this one because you want it to be cutting edge and it is complicated. It is not just Central Park with cars driving by.

TrekMovie: Have you had a full screening of an almost complete version, from beginning to end?

Roberto Orci: No, I saw an early version of it without almost any effects, but still the whole movie. But then I have been seeing sequences here and there but I have been trying to save the experience for myself as much as I can actually and try to see it in its final form, before I see it too many times.

The wait is not over yet for Orci to see the whole Star Trek movie in it’s final form

More OrciComing up later this week we will have part 2 of this interview, where we dive deep into the the canon and science of the new Star Trek movie.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/12/09/exclusive-interview-roberto-orci-on-all-the-latest-with-star-trek-and-more/feed/226Fringe Update: Episode 6 Review + Ratings and Latest Newshttps://trekmovie.com/2008/10/22/fringe-update-episode-6-review-ratings-and-latest-news/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/22/fringe-update-episode-6-review-ratings-and-latest-news/#commentsThu, 23 Oct 2008 04:37:46 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/22/fringe-update-episode-6-review-ratings-and-latest-news/Fringe took a ride on the gross-out side with the sixth episode, "The Cure." The Pattern-seeking team had to get to the bottom of a mystery that was literally mind blowing. See below for our review and the latest news of the Abrams/Orci/Kurtzman/Burk show.

Review – Fringe episode 6 – "The Cure" Maybe because this was the last episode before Halloween, but the sixth outing for Fringe was pretty gory, with lots of blood and heads (human, rat…and papaya) popping like a sequel to the cult-classic Scanners. Not to be outdone by the special effects, we also find the always-lovable Walter (John Noble) finding a unique way to examine a corpse…by shoving a meat thermometer through its ear…yuck (but pretty funny).

"The Cure" was a fun fright-fest of gore and mystery centering on women with a rare disease being turned into head-popping radiation bombs by an evil yuppie scientist, David Esterbrook of the ‘Intrepus’ Pharmaceutical company (and was it just me, or did the ‘red’ and ‘blue’ injections Intrepus was giving people remind anyone else of The Matrix?). It isn’t clear if Easterbrook character will be recurring, but something about the way he got under the skin of Olivia says yes. The story also brought us back into the Massive Dynamics Corporation and Nina Sharp, who dropped some hints that she and Walter ‘knew’ each other back in the day. This allowed the show to continue that delicate balance of doing stand alone mysteries of the week and still play out the overall mythology.

There was also a lot of good character moments on the show, especially between Olivia and Peter and Olivia and Broyles. She and Peter seem to be bonding, but the show is taking the right move and not amping up any romance. Also her relationship with Broyles is now moving more to conflict, with Olivia bucking the system and causing political problems for her boss. Although this can move into stereotypical cop show territory (let’s hope we never hear "I’ve got the chief crawling up my butt over your latest stunt" type of stuff), for now it adds an interesting dynamic to their interplay and gives the always-excellent Phillip Broyles more to chew on. John Noble’s Walter continues to steal the show and provide much of the humor, with an especially amusing scene of his simulated head explosions using a ‘Mr. Papaya head,’ but was the fart joke really necessary?

However the show also had a bit of an odd back-story about Olivia and her abusive stepfather. This almost seems lifted right out of Lost with Kate, except that Olivia’s stepfather survived her attempt to kill him. Not really sure Fringe needs this kind of thing. Maybe her step dad can be related to the whole Pattern, then it might be interesting. Otherwise, lets hope they don’t waste too much time on this.

Bottom line is this was a solid week and possibly the second best of the post-premiere episodes.

Fringe science of the week:

Humans turned into radiation bombs

Walter line of the week: "Was I humming? I thought it was in my head."

Peter in hazmat…again

Ratings – Fringe moves to steady stateFringe appears to be moving into a pattern now with regards to ratings. The sixth episode brought in 9.1 million total viewers, which is about the same as it’s premiere episode, and again came in third behind ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and CBS’s The Mentalist. However it also again won its timeslot for the key 18-49 and 18-34 Demographic groups. The show seems to benefit from the lead in of House and together they continue to win the night amongst the key demos for FOX.

Fringe is taking a World Series break for three weeks and is back November 11th.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/22/fringe-update-episode-6-review-ratings-and-latest-news/feed/24Fringe Update: Episode 5 Review + Ratings and Latest Newshttps://trekmovie.com/2008/10/15/fringe-update-episode-5-review-ratings-and-latest-news/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/15/fringe-update-episode-5-review-ratings-and-latest-news/#commentsThu, 16 Oct 2008 05:22:10 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/15/fringe-update-episode-5-review-ratings-and-latest-news/With all the excitement over new images from the Star Trek movie, we almost forgot to do our regular update for our adopted show being made by the Trek team. Yesterday the fifth episode of Fringe aired, see below for our review and the latest on Fringe.

Review – Fringe episode 4 – "Power Hungry" The fifth Fringe episode settles in for another mystery of the week, but there is still some overall mythology involved. This time out we have an average Joe who seems to put everything electronic around him on the fritz which unfortunately leads to him accidentally killing an elevator full of people…oops. Speaking of mythology, if you look closely you will have spotted the new eyebrowless character ‘The Observer’ getting off that same elevator shortly before its fateful plunge. Is he going to pop up every week like Waldo?

Once again the mystery leads Walter to think back to the old days when he was a cold-war scientist and he remembers some experiment he conducted to supercharge people so they could be located by carrier pigeon. At this point the ‘I remember back when’ thing of Walter’s is starting to wear thin and it is time for the team to find a mystery that Walter actually has to crack a book or something to solve…or even better, give his son Peter a chance to knock one out of the park. While the mystery was rather predictable and run of the mill, it was at least somewhat connected to the overall mythology of the show and it did introduce a new mad scientist to the mix, the genetic engineer Dr. Jacob Fisher…who looks like he will be making a later appearance. Plus the episode did have a pretty funny moment involving Walter running a removed human heart sitting on a tray with a car battery.

What shined in this episode was the character moments, especially in the B Story involving Olivia having visions (and whole conversations) with her dead former lover John Scott. It was interesting that Olivia turned to FBI agent Charlie (Kirk Acevedo) and not Peter, when she sought advice on how to deal with her phantom. It may be that these two characters have the best chemistry in the whole show.

So this episode gets a ‘meh’ on the mystery and mythology, and a ‘yeah’ on the character development. .

Fringe science of the week:

Humans turned into electrical dynamos (and trackable by Pigeon)

Walter line of the week:
"I am sure it had something to do with the commies, it always did back then."

John Scott is back…or is he?

Ratings – Fringe holding audienceEven though Fringe took a week off, it still held almost all of its audience, bringing in around 9.5 million total viewers. Fringe continues to trail ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and CBS’s The Mentalist in total viewers for the time slot, but it also continues to win the key 18-49 and 18-34 Demographic groups, leading TVByTheNumbers to declare both Mentalist and Fringe ‘hits.’ Fringe and House continue to help FOX win Tuesday nights in the key demographics, while coming in second in overall viewers.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/15/fringe-update-episode-5-review-ratings-and-latest-news/feed/20Fringe Update: Episode Review of “Arrival” [UPDATE: Gets Full Season Order]https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/01/fringe-update-episode-review-of-arrival-ratings-news/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/01/fringe-update-episode-review-of-arrival-ratings-news/#commentsWed, 01 Oct 2008 22:36:11 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/01/fringe-update-episode-review-of-arrival-ratings-news/The fourth episode of the new genre show Fringe, from Star Trek film makers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk, is aptly named, “Arrival” as this may be the one where the show truly ‘arrived’ with its own voice. We have a review and an update on the latest ratings and Fringe news below.

Review – Fringe episode 4 – "Arrival" The fourth episode of Fringe "Arrival" may be the one where people went from like the show, to loving it, especially for genre fans. With a tight script written by JJ Abrams and showrunner Jeff Pinker, the episode was full of intrigue, mystery, action, and yet still had time for character moments.

The mythology of the show took a big leap in this pivotal episode, introducing a new mysterious character called ‘The Observer’ who has been showing at ‘Pattern’ related events for decades, but appears to have a tailor from around 1960. Even more intriguing is that Walter knows this guy and even took some time out to have a root bear float with him. The show also seems to be dipping its toe deeper into genre territory with both the Observer and the episode’s maguffin (the mysterious tunneling thing called ‘The Beacon’) having a lot of possible alien tendencies. There was also a new bad guy who has some sort of ‘ray gun’ and a nasty mind reading torture machine that involves electrodes shoved into victims noses…ouch. Of course with Abrams this is all ‘Mystery Box’ territory where we really have no idea what is going on, but that is all the point.

Expect to see more of no-eyebrows guy

As for the characters, this show was also pivotal. As noted in previous reviews, the character of Peter seemed to not have anything to do. In this episode that issue was faced head on and he actually tried to leave until he saw for himself how big the whole ‘Pattern’ thing was and by the end he was on board and even got his own shiny new laminate badge. Also the character of Walter became a lot more serious in this episode, allaying fears that his mad scientist thing could move into parody. And Anna Torv’s Olivia continues to be haunted by her former lover (and supposed to be dead) John Scott (Mark Valley), and by haunting…I mean literally haunting…like phantom phone calls and showing up at her apartment. Is he really there? Who knows, but it all adds up in the growing mystery that is Fringe.

All in all this episode was certainly the best of the post-premiere shows and everything from the music to the acting seems to be truly finding its own voice.

Fringe science of the week:

Lots of mind reading

Subterranean sound-wave torpedo (the Beacon)

Walter line of the week:
[apologizing to Astrid for injecting her with a sedative against her will]
"If it would help you feel a sense of retribution, I would tell you to inject me too, but I would most likely enjoy it."

Walter knows what it is…but he isn’t talking

Ratings – Fringe helps FOX win youth demoIn its third week out FOX’s Fringe increased its overall viewers to come in around 10 million, which puts it in third place for all viewers, but winning both key 18-49 and 18-34 Demographics. Along with the lead-in show House, FOX won the demos for the night. Fringe is also doing well on the DVR, with its premiere ranking as the number one ‘time shifted’ show for the second week of September. Fringe also has the ‘honor’ of being the 10th most pirated show on BitTorrent. FOX’s overall ratings for the year are up and according to media analyst Magna Global this ‘was helped largely’ by Fringe.

UPDATE: Fox orders full seasonVariety is reporting that Fox as ordered ‘the back nine’ which is industry talk for ‘the rest of the season’ or nine additional episodes of Fringe. Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly tells TV Week:

We’re having a blast working on this show with this great team of producers. The series has really taken off creatively, and it’s exciting to see that the audience is responding. We believe this is the first full season of many years to come.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/10/01/fringe-update-episode-review-of-arrival-ratings-news/feed/85Fringe Update: Episode 3 Review + Ratings and Latest Newshttps://trekmovie.com/2008/09/24/fringe-update-episode-3-review-ratings-and-latest-news/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/24/fringe-update-episode-3-review-ratings-and-latest-news/#commentsWed, 24 Sep 2008 20:07:45 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/24/fringe-update-episode-3-review-ratings-and-latest-news/Fringe, from Star Trek film makers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk, has settled into its groove with its third episode, “Ghost Network.” We have a review and an update on the latest ratings and Fringe news below.

Review – Fringe episode 3 – "The Ghost Network" Fringe’s third outing (and first to not be written by Orci, Kurtzman and Abrams) continues to build on the work of the first two with mostly good results. Although this is a high-concept show, the best part is actually the characters with John Noble’s Walter continuing to steal the show with his lovable mad scientist routine — this week we learn he is self-medicating (even making his own drugs). The third episode also continued to deepen the relationships and chemistry with all the characters, and is even starting to give some of the secondary characters some time to get fleshed out. The dynamic between Olivia, Peter and Walter is starting to shape up to be a bit akin to the Kirk/Spock/McCoy relationship with Walter being the scientist, Peter being the skeptic and Olivia having to balance them out and make the right decisions. However they need to give Peter more to do than just sit around and question his father, which is bordering on just being snarky.

The mystery of the week storyline involving the killing of a DEA agent (using some weird gas that killed everyone on a bus) was more intriguing than the past week, but there were some plot holes, like why did they have to kill everyone on that bus bringing so much attention. Also Walter, who has been in a mental institution for 17 years, seemed unfamiliar with cell phone technology, but knew all about CAT scans and Satellite TV. Again the weekly storyline was stand-alone while at the same time also tied into the overall show mythology of ‘The Pattern,’ Massive Dynamics and Noble’s checkered past as a government researcher. And again possibly the most interesting parts of the show’s plot came in the last minute with the mysterious meeting between agent Broyles and Nina Sharp…what is up with that? It is good to see that the episode did not end with everything tied up in a nice bow.

One interesting angle with the episode was the introduction of religion. The episode started in a church confessional and the bad guys seemed to also be meeting in a church or some kind of gothic location, plus they spoke Latin on their ‘ghost network.’ Walter even made a request for Bach’s Mass in B minor. It isn’t clear if this was all isolated to this episode or if these religious themes are also tied into the Pattern (maybe there is a bit of the DaVinci Code going on here?).

Overall the show continues to head in the right direction with the characters (mostly) and with a good mix of mythology and plot.

Fringe science of the week:

gas that solidifies into silicon (used as murder weapon)

artificially created psychic communication (Ghost Network)

Walter line of the week: "I think it’s time for some intra-cranial penetration"

Noble’s Walter continues to lead the cast on Fringe

Ratings – Fringe faces tough competition – wins young viewersIn its third week out FOX’s Fringe faced some serious competition. ABC ended up winning the 9:00 PM timeslot for overall viewers with its season premiere of Dancing with the Stars with 17.9 million and CBS brought in 15.5 million for its series premiere of The Mentalist. Fringe ended up in third place with 9.7 million viewers (a drop of 4 million), but still came in a close second for the 18-49 demographic and won the 18-34 demographic. Fringe’s lead in show House also saw similar drop in numbers from last week’s premiere as it faced the NCIS season premiere. Broadcast news reports that the Fox ratings drop "was expected" due to the competition.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/24/fringe-update-episode-3-review-ratings-and-latest-news/feed/39Fringe Update: Episode 2 Ratings Up + Reviewhttps://trekmovie.com/2008/09/17/fringe-update-episode-2-ratings-up-review/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/17/fringe-update-episode-2-ratings-up-review/#commentsWed, 17 Sep 2008 20:29:15 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/17/fringe-update-episode-2-ratings-up-review/Fringe, the new mystery genre show created by JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, got a big boost in the ratings for its second week, with a little help from Fox’s hit show House. We have details and a mini review of episode 2 "Same Old Story" below.

4 million more tune in to FringeLast week’s premiere of Fringe brought in OK numbers and so a big test for the show was going to be week two, and the good news for the Abrams team is that it passed the test. Fringe won its time slot in both overall viewers and those in the key demographics bringing in a total of 13.4 million, four million more viewers than the premiere. An obvious help to the show was following Fox’s hit medical drama House, which brought in 14.4 million viewers, and together Fringe and House helped Fox win the night.

Review – Fringe episode 2 – "Same Old Story" While the $10 million 90 minute pilot for Fringe felt more like a film, the second outing settled in and felt more like series television, which is actually a good thing. You can start to see how the show is going to work, with a scary opening teaser introducing a mystery, a meeting of the ominous ‘committee’ that oversees the investigations into ‘The Pattern,’ flowing into a procedural show with our main characters solving the case, but at the same time hinting at the larger overall mythology.

Forgoing a ‘previously on Fringe’ the post-credits segments went long on exposition and review of what happened in the pilot, which dragged a bit, but were probably very useful to first-time watchers (and as the ratings shows, that was probably a good call). It has been a stated goal that the show will not be one of those that require you to watch every episode (like Lost or Heroes), but hopefully the show doesn’t end up having to repeat itself too often.

The mystery of the week involving super-rapid aging and a serial killer was interesting, but a bit predictable. What was promising is how ‘the monster of the week’ plot was actually tied into the mythology of ‘The Pattern’ and the Massive Dynamics Corporation. There were just enough Lost-style hints and new mysteries introduced (including the shows final image) to keep mythology-obsessed fans going and wanting more. Also the ‘fringe science’ of the week (recapturing images from a dead body’s optic nerve) provided a nice gross out moment for horror genre fans.

As for the character relationships, there was improvement across the board in this area from the pilot with some poignant scenes between all the shows main cast with John Noble (Walter Bishop), Lance Reddick (Phillip Broyles), and Blair Brown (Nina Sharp) so far pulling most of the load. However, the chemistry between Anna Torv’s Olivia Dunham and Joshua Jackson’s Peter Bishop is starting to shape up nicely and we can see the beginnings of an arc for the two (let’s hope they don’t take this into romance and ‘will they / wont they’ territory too soon). Also the cow made a brief cameo, but Noble continues to provide most of the show’s comedy.

So far so good with Fringe. The challenge for the show going forward will be to balance the procedural mysteries of the week with the overall mythology as well as continuing to develop the characters and give them arcs for the audience to want to make the show ‘must see TV.’

Death doesn’t stop Fringe team from questioning people

Watch episode and extras onlineIf you missed it, you can watch the show online at Fox.com, in HD. Plus Fox has a full recap and also a bonus feature of ‘Walter’s lab notes.’ It is worth touring around the official site as it is clear that FOX is using the web in a very proactive way to both extend the Fringe experience as well as help fans catch up with the show if they miss something.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/17/fringe-update-episode-2-ratings-up-review/feed/60Orci: Star Trek Almost Donehttps://trekmovie.com/2008/09/17/orci-star-trek-almost-done/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/17/orci-star-trek-almost-done/#commentsWed, 17 Sep 2008 07:58:56 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/17/orci-star-trek-almost-done/In a new interview Star Trek co-writer and exec producer Roberto Orci says that JJ Abrams new Star Trek movie is almost finished and he also talked about how this new Star Trek is two movies in one. More details below.

In the past Star Trek producers JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof have stated that they hope to stick to their original schedule (set before the film was moved to May) and have Star Trek finished by Christmas. And according to Orci they seem on track or even possibly ahead of schedule.

[We’re] so close to being done, and we’ve almost … finished the bomb shelter where we’re going to hide the movie.

It isn’t clear how ‘done’ he means. Some sources have recently told TrekMovie that Abrams is close to having his final editing cut done, but there are still visual and sound effects along with music to be dropped in. Regardless it is clear the film will be done well before the May release date so Paramount just might need that secure undisclosed location to hide it if they want to keep this ultra secret project from springing a leak.

Orci also talked to SciFi Wire about how Star Trek appeals to both general film fans and hardcore Star Trek fans (like himself). He even used a word beginning with ‘re’…

If you’re a fan, it’s a re-introduction to Star Trek, and if you’re not, it’s an introduction. And the idea of sort of doing two movies in one is tricky, because you don’t want to somehow dilute it, but again, since this is not a story that’s ever been covered in the Trek canon, in terms of the film or the series, it’s an old and a new story

More from Orci and Kurtzman on Transformers 2 and FringeSciFiWire also talked to Orci and his writing partner Alex Kurtzman about their other summer 2008 movie, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, and even though they were just talking aboutStar Trek II, they apparently are looking at other ‘second movie’ for inspiration for the Transformers sequel, Kurtzman noted:

We loved Superman II, we loved Empire [Strikes Back], we loved Aliens. And those were all movies that felt like they truly stood apart from what had come before them in great, great ways.

And on the Fringe front, Orci and Kurtzman are now doing a new podcast for their Fox show Fringe. The pair answer questions fans from fansites and the Fox message board. You can listen to the first episode at the Fox Fringe Blog.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/17/orci-star-trek-almost-done/feed/119Fringe Update: Premiere Ratings In + Fringe Actor Talks Visit To Trek Sethttps://trekmovie.com/2008/09/10/fringe-update-premire-ratings-in-fringe-actor-talks-visit-to-trek-set/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/10/fringe-update-premire-ratings-in-fringe-actor-talks-visit-to-trek-set/#commentsWed, 10 Sep 2008 20:54:32 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/10/fringe-update-premire-ratings-in-fringe-actor-talks-visit-to-trek-set/The new genre show Fringe, created by the Star Trek team of JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, debuted last night to respectable ratings, winning its timeslot amongst the target demographic (details below). In other Fringe news, one of the lead actors talks about his visit to the Star Trek set and his desire to be Captain Kirk.

9 million see FringeThe 90 minute premiere of Fringe averaged 9 million viewers and won its timeslot with both the 18-34 and 18-49 demographics. Winning is good, but with all the buzz some media watchers were expecting even higher numbers, with views on the ratings ranging from ‘solid,’ to ‘decent,’ to ‘modest,’ to ‘less than spectacular.’ One good sign is that Fringe built an audience each half hour. The show is also one of Fox’s best premieres to not benefit from any lead in (American Idol or an NFL game can really help). The key will be the second week when the show will benefit by following Fox’s highly-rated House.

Reddick wanted to be KirkBefore joining the cast of Fringe to play agent Phillip Broyles, Lance Reddick garnered rave reviews for his time on the award-winning gritty cop show The Wire, gaining him the attention of the Abrams team who have been using him in a recurring role on Lost (playing Matthew Abaddon, described as the ‘Darth Vader of Lost‘). What The Abrams’ boys didn’t know when they cast him, is that their new actor shared their love for Star Trek. In a new interview with AMC’s SciFi Scanner, Reddick explains:

…the first thing that drew me to acting was wanting to be Captain Kirk when I was a kid. It’s weird because growing up, I never thought I would be an actor, but I was a huge fan of Star Trek. And I remember reading somewhere that William Shatner had been a Shakespearean actor. So one day I took one of my dad’s old books of Shakespeare and started reciting monologues.

It is too bad that he didn’t speak up sooner, or he might have even got into the new Star Trek movie. Reddick tells AMC:

I met J.J. on the set of Star Trek after I was cast for Fringe. I flipped out. I mean, I was on the bridge of the Enterprise! I was like, "J.J. can I sit in the chair?" He’s like, "Yeah, go ahead." I sat in Captain Kirk’s chair — and, man, it was great! I told him I always wanted to be Captain Kirk and said, "You gotta put me in the next Star Trek." He said, "I wish I knew — there was a role here you would have been great for." Knock on wood he’ll put me in the next one.

So which role did JJ think he would be perfect for?

Lance Reddick, Trek fan in Fringe

Pilot encore (w/ extras) + available onlineIf you missed it, Fox is re-airing the pilot in a two hour event on Sunday at 8 PM. The extra minutes will be filled with some ‘bonus’ material:

exclusive preview of the first four minutes of Fringe’s second episode, “The Same Old Story.”

extended preview of “24: REDEMPTION,” the two-hour special “24” event that airs November 23rd on FOX

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/10/fringe-update-premire-ratings-in-fringe-actor-talks-visit-to-trek-set/feed/126Review: Fringe Pilot + Orci & Kurtzman Fringe Interviewhttps://trekmovie.com/2008/09/07/review-fringe-pilot-orci-kurtzman-fringe-interview/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/07/review-fringe-pilot-orci-kurtzman-fringe-interview/#commentsMon, 08 Sep 2008 05:57:34 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/07/review-fringe-pilot-orci-kurtzman-fringe-interview/After a summer of buzz, on Tuesday September 9th the new TV series created by the Star Trek production team of JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman finally hits the air…TrekMovie has an early review of the pilot for Fringe. Plus we have an exclusive video interview with co-creators Orci and Kurtzman.

Review – Fringe "Pilot"The new FOX TV series Fringe TV series opens on a plane in trouble and viewers may immediately think that maybe JJ Abrams has recreated his hit ABC show Lost, but the comparison really ends there. At its heart Fringe is really a procedural drama that has far more in common with shows like CSI and Bones, with some genre touches like Torchwood, X-File, and even a bit of Brannon Braga’s Threshold thrown in.

The pilot itself follows the origin story structure as you see how the eventual team is put together. Leading the charge is FBI Agent Olivia Dunham played by Anna Torv, who is part of the team investigating the mysteries of the doomed flight. Dunham is having a clandestine relationship with fellow agent John Scott (Mark Valley) and after he is infected with what killed everyone on the plane, Dunham delves into the world of ‘fringe’ science to help save his life. This journey leads her to seek out Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble), the (literally) mad scientist who will help save her bf, along with Bishop’s son Peter (Joshua Jackson) who is some sort of genius bad-boy mercenary/scientist…and thusly the team (and core cast of the show) is born.

Although the pilot centers on Olivia and her relationships with John Scott (who spends much of the episode looking like the see through man from biology class), and her (maybe possibly a love connection) relationship with Peter Bishop, the chemistry that ends up working the best is between the reluctant pairing of the estranged father and son Noble and Jackson. Olivia is strong role and seems well-drawn from the same pool as Alias’ Sydney Bristol and Lost’s Kate Austen, and there is a lot of potential here in Fringe, but it appears that Torv will have to grow into her role.

Noble and Jackson, father and son in "Fringe"

Complimenting the core cast is the captivatingly intense Lance Reddick (The Wire) as Homeland Security agent Phillip Broyles who will be overseeing this new team of investigators. Along for the ride is Blair Brown (Days and Nights Molly Dodd) who plays a mysterious executive at the ominously named Massive Dynamics Corporation.

The pilot follows what will likely be the recurring structure of the show, in which the team work to solve a mystery (in this case, what infected everyone on the plane and how can it be cured). Where the show diverges from other ‘sciencey’ procedurals like CSI, Numb3rs and Bones is that it delves into the ‘fringe’ sciences. For example, during the pilot we see Olivia enter the coma mind of John Scott using a combo of home-made LSD and a sensory deprivation tank (perhaps an homage to Altered States). This element of the show presents the science well for the most part and should be able to keep the interest of genre fans, but it doesn’t appear that the show will go down the alien rabbit hole like The X-Files.

Torv (center) trips out in "Fringe"

The Abrams team seems have also added an overall mythology layer, in this case there is something called ‘The Pattern’ which is at the heart of seemingly unconnected mysteries around the world. Somewhere linked to this is the Massive Dynamics Corporation, which appears destined to the DHARMA initiative of Fringe. The pilot just teases this mythology enough to let the viewers know it is there. However Abrams and the team have stated that they will try and balance the weekly episodes to not expect viewers to watch every episode and losing track of this over-arching story. It appears that they are applying lessons learned from their previous shows as well as other popular shows like Heroes, which tend to bleed viewers over time due to a growingly complicated mythology that requires religious viewing or you get lost.

Directed by Alex Graves (vet of 34 episodes of the West Wing) from a script by Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman, the tightly-packed, yet extended-length pilot feels more like feature film. The visuals are stunning, from the wide ranging locations, to the gruesome make-up effects, down to the floating typography that introduces each new setting. The show isn’t all bio-toxins, bionics, corporate conspiracies and talking to corpses — there is a good amount of humor injected into the script as well. So far it appears that Noble will be carrying much of the load, however his kooky scientist saying off the wall inappropriate things routine may get old pretty fast. The second funniest character in the pilot is a cow, really, so the Abrams/Orci/Kurtzman are willing to go a long way to get a laugh on Fringe.

The pilot also makes an attempt at some sex appeal with Torv stripping down to her undies to get into the flotation tank, however the scene was a bit hammy and didn’t really work. Also the dynamics between her and both Mark Valley and Joshua Jackson was not really giving you that spark that makes the Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle work so well. However, it is just the pilot so there is time for that to grow.

Valley and Torv look for the clues in Fringe

It is these dynamics that are the key to this show’s potential success. Although shows like Lost and Heroes have intriguing plots and over-arching mythologies, it is the characters that make those shows work. For Fringe, some of these dynamics (like between Jackson and Noble) are already working, whereas others need to be developed. Although the premiere falls short the pilot for JJ Abrams’ Lost, with these kinds of strong characters combined with the off the wall science, the bits of humor, and the sprinkling of mythology, Fringe has the potential to be must see TV for both genre fans and a wider TV audience.

Video interview with Orci and Kurtzman
TrekMovie had a moment before the "Fringe" panel at Comic Con to talk to co-creators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman about their new show.

Fringe premieres on Fox on September 9th at 8 PM. More info, including previews and interviews at fox.com/fringe.

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/07/review-fringe-pilot-orci-kurtzman-fringe-interview/feed/46Quinto & Kring Talk Trek/Heroes Connection + Abrams Talks Fringe/Trek Sciencehttps://trekmovie.com/2008/09/05/quinto-kring-talk-trekheroes-connection-abrams-talks-fringetrek-science/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/05/quinto-kring-talk-trekheroes-connection-abrams-talks-fringetrek-science/#commentsFri, 05 Sep 2008 20:51:51 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/09/05/quinto-kring-talk-trekheroes-connection-abrams-talks-fringetrek-science/Zachary Quinto, Star Trek’s new Spock, is now back to his day job, as one of the main villains on NBC’s Heroes. In a couple of new interviews Quinto and Heroes creator Tim Kring talk about Heroes connection to Trek and in another new interview Star Trek director JJ Abrams talks Trek and Fringe science.

Quinto was asked about his upcoming role as Spock in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, and the actor revealed that he sees several similar traits when playing the logical Vulcan and the sociopath villain. “There are elements of the characters that echo each other, but from opposite ends of the spectrum,” Quinto said. He added that they both have “a stillness and a rich internal point of view that informs the way they behave.”

"Heroes" creator Tim Kring said the "Lost" connection was helpful in getting Quinto the Spock role.
Kring said the "Lost" people — who did the new "Star Trek" movie — are fans of his and vice versa. That’s how conversations about Quinto playing Spock came up, Kring said. "It happened on a human level with friendships," Kring said.

Another big question is what power Kaito Nakamura [played by Star Trek’s George Takei] had, and the fact that a deleted scene on the Heroes season 2 DVD revealed he has the ability to see all the variables of a situation and predict an inevitable outcome, such as analyzing the stock market to earn money. Kring said they intentionally revealed this on the DVD for hardcore fans, though he set no time table for when people who only watch the show on TV might get to learn of Kaito’s power

Season premiere for Heroes is Monday Sept. 22. More info at nbc.com/heroes. Here is the promo.

Abrams on Fringe & Trek scienceOf course the other big genre show premiere with a Trek connection is next week’s debut of Fringe, created by the team behind the new Star Trek movie, JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman. In an interview with Wired, Abrams talked about the difference between science fiction and science fact on both Fringe and Star Trek.

Though you could say it’s science fiction, the weird thing about Fringe is that a lot of the stuff is at least in the realm of possibility. It’s not sci-fi — it’s just sci. When Star Trek came out and they had their communicators, that was a cool dream. Now, in our pockets, we all have communicators. We read a week ago that invisibility is coming. You go, ‘They cracked invisibility.’ There’s stuff you wouldn’t think in a million years is possible, and it’s happening every day.

We’re living in an incredibly advanced period of scientific achievement, almost uncontrollably so, and that keeps pushing our almost quaint version of what science fiction is to a different place.

Fringe, created by JJ Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, premieres next Tuesday on Fox. Here is a new promo video featuring clips and some chat with JJ Abrams.

JJ Abrams and pals are gearing up for the September 9th premiere of their new TV show Fringe. In a new interview promoting the show at TV Guide, Abrams was also asked about his Star Trek movie where he described what what we have in store in May 2009 and what it was like working with Leonard Nimoy.

Excerpts from TV Guide

ON TREK

TV Guide: On "Trek," one of the people you worked with was Leonard freakin’ Nimoy!JJ Abrams: I know! But it’s funny, because it wasn’t until very recently that it really hit me how cool that was. There was so much work to do during the shoot and there were so many fires that needed putting out that there wasn’t much time to sit and acknowledge the reality of working with him. Then the other day I was watching the movie, and there he was. There was Spock! And it hit me like, "Holy s—!" [laughs] It was kind of like a huge delay.

TV Guide: There are still nearly nine months until "Trek"’s release. What can you tell us?JJ Abrams: All I can say is that I think this movie is going to be worth the wait. It’s blessed with a wonderful optimism and an incredibly alive and invested cast. While the visual effects are gonna be unbelievable, the movie is working right now with only 50 of our 1,000-plus visual effects finished. It’s funny, it’s scary, it’s dramatic, emotional and entertaining–all without having the stuff you’d think a movie called "Star Trek" would require. That to me is exciting.

ON FRINGE/LOST CONNECTION

TV Guide: The first episode opens with a troubled flight. Was it an intentional nod to Lost?JJ Abrams: It’s almost embarrassing, but I wasn’t even thinking about that. The idea for that sequence came to me, and then I thought, "Oh , Lord." [Laughs] Then I was like, "Do we change it?" But the story could not be less like Lost. To me, there’s just something about airplanes. I was obsessed with the "Airport" movies when I was a kid. I saw all of them, including "The Concorde–Airport ’79." So it’s a place that’s kind of a go-to for me. But I’m guessing I can’t really do another airplane thing for a while.

Read the full interview in the current TV Guide. Scan available at SpoilerTV.

See Abrams at the New York Television FestivalOn Saturday September 13th the cast and producers of Fringe will engage in a discussion at a screening for Fringe at the New York Television Festival’s ‘Premiere Week.’ More info at nytvf.com.

Actor Joshua Jackson, best known to TV audiences as Pacey Witter on Dawson’s Creek, is the star of Fringe, the upcoming sci-fi show created by Star Trek director/producer J.J. Abrams and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. In an interview Jackson revealed that he auditioned for a role in Abrams’ Star Trek. He also discusses Abrams famous secrecy for Trek and Fringe.

Jackson not only auditioned for Trek, but he believes it was that audition that got him his current job on Fringe. From the interview:

I had auditioned for Star Trek, which I think was sort of my audition for [Fringe]. Nobody will say that but I think that is the truth.

Jackson did not specify what role he auditioned for, but a good guess would for one of the big three (Kirk, Spock or McCoy) and my money is on Kirk. Jackson also commented on the measures taken by the production team to prevent secrets from leaking out into the public.

As much as I am enjoying working for J.J. and Bad Robot right now, he is like a hunted man. Everything that he does or writes down, people are trying to get on the internet. I have never dealt with so much security. My script has my name printed on it, they have to change the letters inside the script to serialize them so they know who leaked it in case it gets out. I also had to sign a non-disclosure agreement for when I get my script every week.

According to Jackson, the chance to do “good work with good people” is what attracted him to Fringe, and he finds the script by Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman to be “excellent”. Jackson also sung praise for Abrams, stating:

You can’t really get any better than J.J. Abrams as a producer on television or film. Alias was pretty damn good, Lost is excellent, and Felicity was good as well. He’s definitely made his mark on television. That is the difficulty of television, maintaining quality and being able to keep cranking these things out.

New Fringe PostersIn other Fringe news, Fox has released three new posters for the show (click to enlarge)

]]>https://trekmovie.com/2008/08/21/dawsons-creek-star-talks-trek-audition-fringe-secrecy/feed/30Comic Con 08: Abrams Team Talk Trek At Fringe Panelhttps://trekmovie.com/2008/07/26/comic-con-08-abrams-team-talk-trek-at-fringe-panel/
https://trekmovie.com/2008/07/26/comic-con-08-abrams-team-talk-trek-at-fringe-panel/#commentsSun, 27 Jul 2008 06:26:35 +0000https://trekmovie.com/2008/07/26/comic-con-08-abrams-team-talk-trek-at-fringe-panel/4 out of 5 of the ‘Supreme Court’ behind the Star Trek movie hit the stage tonight at Comic Con, but they were there to promote their mysterious new show for Fox, Fringe. However, Star Trek could not be denied and it came up a few times during the panel discussion, with updates and post-production, thoughts on George Takei and who is the best villain Khan or the Borg. Details and video below

Star Trek almost lockedAccording to Star Trek director JJ Abrams, he is "very close to locking Trek," meaning that within a few weeks he will have his first cut of the film done. However, executive producer Bryan Burk pointed out that very few of the effects shots are done. Burk also noted that the trailer they are currently working on is not complete due to the lack of effects and that since they moved the film from December to May they are not rushing the effects. However, Abrams also noted that they are still hoping to have the film finished by December.

It still strikes some as surprising that the entire Trek team was in San Diego and yet there was no Star Trek panel (Abrams, Orci, Kurtzman and Burk were on stage tonight and I spied Damon Lindelof and Zachary Quinto in the audience). Abrams did try to explain to the Comic Con audience why this was the case, and also spoke about how he thinks the film is shaping up even without the effects in place:

I am dying to show you this movie. I love this movie. The actors are so good. The script is amazing, that Alex and Bob wrote. It’s one of these things, despite the effects not working* — you know, the Original show was not about the effects it was about the relationships, the dynamics with the characters. The reason I know that the movie is working, I don’t want to jinx it, but when I watch it, the reason I know it is working is that you care about the story and the people. It makes you feel. It is funny, it is scary, it is all these things that we hoped originally. They are walking around and there is nothing on the viewscreen or they are walking around and there is a big thing of green right there, but it is working because the actors are so good. I am dying to show you and I am sorry the strategy of Paramount not being here precludes us from not being able to present to you something that if I were you guys, and I feel like I am, I would really want to see. I hope it will be soon, so I apologize.

* within the context of the discussion, by ‘not working’ Abrams mean the effects weren’t in the cut yet

Abrams and the team also took questions on putting George Takei into a Star Trek movie and also were quized on who is the most badass villain (Khan or the Borg).

VIDEO: Trek questions from Fringe panel

Fox nixed Trek footage? + recent footage report debunked
There was a rumor going around the press room that the Trek team did actually bring some Trek footage, but that Fox didn’t want them to show it and upstage Fringe. I heard rumblings of this yesterday and again today. Tonight EW reported they did as well. However this could not be confirmed with any sources, so it may have been some last minute wishful thinking. I was able to talk to a couple of sources about the scene descriptions on AICN we reported yesterday. Both sources agreed that the scenes described are not in the new Star Trek, so false alarm there.

More Fringe
TrekMovie will have more on Fringe, including an interview with Orci and Kurtzman tomorrow.